Major Australian clothing companies are under pressure to publicly state where their products are made, as consumer advocates accuse them of leaving customers “in the dark” when it comes to making ethical purchase decisions.
The Just Group – which includes Just Jeans, Jay Jays, Portmans, Jacqui E, Peter Alexander and Dotti – and Best & Less have both failed to sign the Bangladesh accord, according to a report on ethical clothing manufacturing by Choice, Ethical Fashion.
The accord – announced in May 2013 in response to a series of fatal disasters in dangerous Bangladesh factories – is a legally binding agreement seeking to improve safety conditions by, in part, requiring companies to reveal the locations of factories in their supply chain, so they can be audited by independent inspectors. The accord also requires companies to finance safety improvements.
Kmart is the only Australian clothing retailer to publish a list of its Bangladeshi factories. Target has committed to it but has not published yet.
The Bangladeshi garment industry is beset with unsafe workplaces and poor working conditions in its more than 5,000 factories. In April a Dhaka building full of garment factories collapsed, killing more than 1,100 people. Hundreds more have been killed or injured in dozens of recent incidents, including stampedes and frequent fires.
Bangladeshi factories supply globally recognised brands, many of which have since signed the accord or initiated compensation schemes for victims and families.
“With Australia’s clothing imports totalling approximately $5.8bn, it’s hard to know if our much-loved brands are doing the right thing by their workers,” said Choice. “A longer supply chain means it’s increasingly difficult for brands to maintain sight of safety issues and working conditions.”
Choice told Guardian Australia that signing the accord and publishing factory lists empowered consumers who want to make ethical choices about their clothing purchases.
“Companies that don’t seek to disclose these details create an impression they have something to hide,” said the organisation’s head of media, Tom Godfrey. “We want to see some transparency around this.”
The approach of some companies to conduct their own safety audits was not good enough, said Godfrey.
Best & Less told Guardian Australia it agreed with the intent of the accord, but decided not to sign it. Instead, the retailer had dramatically tightened up its supply chain to ensure it knows where their garments and the fabric used to make them come from.
“The country of origin can be found on the labels of all of our garments and the materials used are listed on our care labels,” said a spokesman. “Approximately 5% of our production comes from Bangladesh. One of our Bangladesh suppliers buys some of their cotton yarn from Australia.”
The company has limited agreements to six suppliers which are in turn allowed to use a maximum of three factories. All workplaces are independently audited, it said.
“We have audits from all of these factories and our own quality assurance team have personally visited and inspected these factories to ensure they are compliant with our ethical sourcing code,” said the spokesman.
Choice said this approach was problematic.
“Unfortunately, the inspections don’t always lead to improvements for workers. For example, prior to the collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh, two of the factories had been audited but safety risks had not been identified. Often audits are announced in advance and auditors may lack the expertise to do the job credibly,” its report says.
Bangladesh is the second largest source of Australian clothing imports, supplying 6%, behind China’s 72.9%, which begs the question: why not a China accord?
“Bangladesh became the primary focus following the 2013 Savar building collapse that resulted in 1,100 deaths,” said Choice’s Godfrey. “Let’s hope it doesn’t take another tragedy before similar measures are put in place on other countries.”
