Femnet e.V.

News & Press Releases - Fair procurement for the public sector

15 March 2024 End of procrastination: Bund must procure textiles sustainably!

A year ago, the Federal Government published the ‘Stage Plan for Increasing the Sustainable Procurement of Textiles by Federal Administration Authorities and Institutions’. FEMNET and 10 other civil society organisations are calling for implementation.

Exactly a year ago, the Schedule (PDF) in force. In it, the Federal Government sets itself the goal of procuring half of the textiles required by the federal administration according to social and ecological criteria by 2026. In addition, the Guidance on the implementation of sustainable textile procurement (PDF) in the Federal Administration of 2021 just revised for the second time. The textile step plan and the further development of the guideline are important foundations for the successful transformation of the federal procurement practice.

However, much time has passed since the publication of the original Sustainability Action Programme in 2015. The goal of sourcing half of the textiles sustainably by 2020 has been delayed and not achieved. The 2023 step-by-step plan now sets the target for 2026, six years later than announced in the measurement programme. If the current federal government wants to stick to the previous government's goal of purchasing 100 percent of the textiles required by federal authorities in a sustainable way by 2030, the textile stage plan must now be implemented quickly, ambitiously and transparently. In this way, it can become a model for comparable processes in the procurement of other sensitive product groups and also motivate countries and municipalities to procure sustainably.

We therefore call for:

• All federal procurement agencies must reach the individual levels for themselves
• This requires monitoring and reporting to the public.
• Science and civil society should be invited to the inter-ministerial committee on sustainable public procurement
• Advisory, training and training on sustainable public procurement must be significantly increased
• Communication with the market needs to be significantly expanded
• Gender procurement criteria need to be included in the guide, which could also be implemented in a pilot project mentioned in the step-by-step plan
• Special textiles can be procured in a socially sustainable way and must be included in the guide
• Step-by-step plans should also be developed for all product groups at high risk for human and labour rights violations.

contact

Rosa Grabe
FEMNET
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Tel: 0228 / 90 91 73 09

Christian Wimberger
Romero Initiative (CIR)
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Tel: 0251 / 67 44 13 – 21

 

The call is supported by 11 organisations:

• Christian Initiative Romero e.V.
• CorA Corporate Responsibility Network
• A world forum Aachen
• EXILE
• TransFair/Fairtrade Deutschland e.V.
• FEMNET e.V.
• Forum Fairer Handel e.V.
• SÜDWIND e.V.
• vamos e.V.
• WEED e.V.
• WÖK