by Michelle Morra
An eight-story commercial building collapsed in Bangladesh in April, 2013, killing approximately 1,129 people, many of whom were the makers of clothing worn by unsuspecting Canadian consumers. The tragedy reinforced a question that companies should be asking themselves: How well do I know the products that display my logo?
“Out of sight” can no longer be “out of mind.” Consumers are increasingly aware that there’s more to a shirt than the ready-to-wear package they see. It is no longer enough to know that a shirt likely comes from another country, made and assembled by unknown people in unknown working conditions. The company whose logo is on that shirt needs to know where the shirt was made, what it’s made of, and how its makers are treated at work.
Knowing isn’t required under any Canadian law. Social pressure from several forward-thinking organizations, however, is slowly making corporate social responsibility (CSR) a business imperative.
Navigating the compliance network
All along the garment production chain, retailers, domestic-based manufacturers, buying agents and foreign manufcturers each have their own policies regarding social responsibility and state their commitment in different ways. Some develop their own “Codes of conduct” documents outlining their values, principles and guidelines. Others might not have a formal code of conduct, but circulate letters stating their policies to all suppliers, contractors and/or buying agents. Still others use compliance certificates to state their policies and require that their suppliers, buying agents, or contractors to certify in writing that they abide by the company’s stated standards—for example, prohibiting the employment of children. But how is an end user to know what really goes on behind the scenes?
Mark Trotzuk, Boardroom Eco Apparel in Vancouver says there are questions people should be asking their suppliers. First is product safety: “What’s in the umbrella, cup, pen or ball caps you’re buying for employees and customers?” he says. “There are toxic chemicals within the dyes, lead in the screen print, etc., that all might be a risk to the person putting their logo on it.”
The next big issue to ask about is social compliance—the human factor. Trotzuk recommends asking, “What about the people who create the materials or assemble these products together? Are they treated fairly? Are they getting a fair wage?”
In many cases, companies can find out this information before even choosing a supplier since those with a commitment to CSR tend to say so on their websites and in marketing material. Imagewear, whose head office is in Calgary, publishes the fact that for years it has audited the offshore factories that make its products, “through a combination of third-party audits, internal assessments and factory self-assessments.” Through its parent company Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited, Imagewear has implemented a comprehensive Supplier Code of Business Conduct. The Code sets out standards for matters including compliance with laws, wage and benefits, working conditions, the use of child or forced labour, sub-suppliers and human rights. Imagewear also uses a third-party company—Bureau Veritas—to audit its suppliers for compliance of International Labour Organization (ILO) standards.
Another branded apparel supplier, Seattle-based Cutter & Buck, advertises the fact that it “seeks vendors that strive to maintain sustainable social and environmental business practices,” and participates with the Quality Certification Alliance (QCA) to ensure “product quality and safety” with a focus on “a safe supply chain, workers right and environmental stewardship.”
And then there’s Mark Trotzuk, CEO of Boardroom Eco Apparel who, besides stating a commitment and commissioning third-party audits, takes CSR a step further. He gets on a plane, visits the facility himself and even makes a video of himself there.
Boardroom sells a line of apparel it claims is made from recycles water bottles, a process that might be hard to fathom for some end-users. To set their minds at ease, Trotzuk recently visited the fabric supplier in Taiwan and saw the workers take recycled plastic bottles, chip them into flakes and spin them into yarn.
“I’ve had an independent audit done,” he says, “but you can also see that I’ve been there, too, and if you need to ask me what it’s like, I’ve been there.”
For the discerning buyer
Fair Trade (now called Fairtrade) is an international system of certification and labelling that started in the late 1980s, when consumers started asking for a guarantee that their purchases were truly benefiting producers and workers. Meanwhile, businesses wanted a way to build consumer trust.
According to the 2011 FairTrade International (FLO) Global Consumer Perceptions Survey, most Canadians understand and continue to be concerned about traditional Fairtrade issues, including worker exploitation, unfair trade practices, and poverty in poor countries, and have high expectations for companies to act responsibly. While more and more reported purchasing products with the Fairtrade mark, price and availability of products are consistently the main barriers to these purchases.
Cotton is one of many products for which Fairtrade International has developed fair trade standards. A Canadian apparel company can engage in Fairtrade cotton by applying for a license with Fairtrade Canada and having its supply chain certified. This system applies both for Canadian companies that import tissue for manufacturing, and for those that import finished apparel.
“We make sure that the Canadian company buys the cotton from Fairtrade certified suppliers and that they can use the Fairtrade mark in return on clothes,” says Victoria Reichel, Non-food Category Specialist for Fairtrade Canada in Ottawa. “This gives the signal to the consumer that the company using the mark adheres to the Fairtrade standards and has been inspected and audited by Fairtrade Canada (or FLO-Cert for previous steps in the supply chain).”
For companies sourcing branded apparel, Reichel recommends asking suppliers…
- Where the products come from and under which conditions they have been produced; and
- If the workers who manufactured the clothing and the farmers who grew the cotton have been paid a fair wage, and if their labour conditions respect the ILO standards. If the brand says yes, follow up by asking if an independent organization has actually verified that these claims are true.
Canadian laws protect Canadian consumers in a way that ensures there are no health issues caused by an imported product. Other Canadian laws protect Canadian workers at their workplace. “Unfortunately,” Reichel says, “when it comes to foreign workers and farmers that have contributed to the production of goods sold and consumed in Canadian territory, there is no public regulation in place to protect them.”
Published in MarketingEdge magazine