Pressemeldungen - Unternehmensverantwortung & Lieferkettengesetz © Devi Adamo 2019 13 January 2020 Transparency in the clothing sector is growing – but many companies in the textile alliance continue to refuse FEMNET has published the most important results of a new study in German Textile companies have made great progress in recent years in disclosing information about their supply chains. This is shown in a report published in December 2019 by an alliance of trade unions, human rights groups and labour rights initiatives, including the Clean Clothes Campaign. The short version has been translated into German by FEMNET. The report is an update of the 2017 company survey. With its ‘Transparency Pledge“ the NGO Alliance then defined minimum standards for transparency in supply chains. The aim is to enable employees, labour rights organisations and consumers to find out where a brand's products are manufactured. The 15-page follow-up report Fashion’s Next Trend: Accelerating Supply Chain Transparency in the Garment and Footwear Industry According to the NGO Alliance, many companies have now responded to the call: Of the 74 companies contacted so far, 39 have aligned their practices with or committed to the Transparency Pledge standard. "An important step in the right direction, as transparency helps to identify and address labour rights violations in garment supply chains," says Gisela Burckhardt of FEMNET. ‘Transparency enables non-governmental organisations and trade unions to communicate with a company in the event of abuse in its suppliers. Even affected workers know better who to turn to.’ Since mid-2018, the NGO alliance has also been in discussions with seven Responsible Business Initiatives (RBI), including the German Textile Alliance and the US-based Fair Labour Association (FLA). The NGO Alliance called on RBI to make compliance with the Transparency Pledge, i.e. supply chain disclosure, a condition for membership of the initiatives. The demand had an effect: The FLA announced that all member companies must meet the Transparency Pledge standard by March 2022. The German Textile Alliance, on the other hand, has not taken any steps to make transparency in supply chains a condition for membership. "Civil society in the Textile Alliance has long called for the disclosure of the supply chain from member companies. In addition, the factory control reports (audits) should also be published so that workers can comment on them," explains Gisela Burckhardt. For information on the 74 companies the Coalition has contacted since 2016 and other companies that have either published information or entered into new commitments, see: Annex II ‘Transparency in the fashion industry’ (2020, English, Summary, PDF) Fashion’s next trend - Accelerating Supply Chain Transparency in the Apparel and Footwear Industry (2019, English, full report, PDF) ‘Transparency Pledge’ (2017, English, PDF file) 31.02.2018: Handing over 70,000 signatures from FEMNET and the Clean Clothes Campaign to Primark for the discounter to disclose its suppliers - with great success, as a few days later Primark made its producers public Contact: Gisela Burckhardt, CEO of FEMNET e.V. Mobile: 01520 177 40 80 E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Press release of 13.01.2020 (PDF download)
