Reviewing and including all supplier tiers to address transparency issues for decent work

Garment supply chains are complex and multi-tiered, making it difficult to follow ‘the thread to the finished product12” as many factories source from different sub-suppliers who then go on to supply different clothing companies. In Bangladesh, in some instances in the RMG industry, primary suppliers subcontract orders to informal factories where there is little visibility from government or brands.

VSCF worked in partnerships with brands to improve transparency of their supply chains and to support their suppliers to improve their implementation of agreed, responsible policies.

GoodWeave International, a not-for -profit organisation working to stop child labour in global supply chains, collaborated with Monsoon Accessorize and VF Corporation in the VSCF “Hidden Supply Chains” project. The project addressed the hidden nature of informal work through deep supply chain mapping and monitoring.

“Recognising we can only address problems we can see, VF continues expanding our traceability and transparency efforts to dig deeper into our extended supply chain. The information gathered in this program will help VF enhance its policies and processes to advance the systemic change needed to address issues hidden deep within the apparel industry’s global supply chains.” Peter Higgins, Vice

President of Global Responsible Sourcing, VF Corporation.

The project conducted supply chain assessments with eight suppliers – both Tier One and sub-contractors – against the core Certification Principles of the GoodWeave International Standard, through both announced and unannounced inspections. The assessments looked at what policies and processes were in place to ensure no child or forced labour is used, and supported suppliers to improve their systems where required. To encourage suppliers’ disclosure, GoodWeave took the initiative to foster open conversations between brands and suppliers to help them better understand the objectives of project and of the assessments, which led to increased sharing of information, and access to subcontractors necessary for deep supply chain mapping. Suppliers expressed positive feedback on the recommendations that GoodWeave offered as a result of the assessments. An end-of-project survey found that suppliers are willing to continue to work with GoodWeave as they could see the benefits of joining the GoodWeave deep supply chain due diligence program in order to attract more buyers.

The project also conducted research with informal workers to examine links between undisclosed outsourcing and global supply chains. Working with a local partner, Awaj Foundation, the project collected data through communitybased interviews with RMG workers using questionnaires, focus group discussions and informant interviews in several districts with a high prevalence of informal garment work. The findings can inform future supply chain transparency programming. To this end, GoodWeave International has shared lessons learned and prepared a feasibility plan for continued programming in Bangladesh.

COVID-19 increased the risk of modern slavery and child labour if laid off workers were forced to turn to exploitative work or place their children in work to cope with the loss of earnings. Travel restrictions also made it more difficult for companies to conduct inspections and ensure that ethical work practices are being adopted13. By involving local service providers within partnerships, VSCF projects were able (when COVID-19 outbreaks permitted) to conduct vital in-person announced- and unannounced- visits to factories. During visits VSCF partners worked collaboratively with suppliers to update policies and procedures for supply chain transparency, eliminating child and forced labour, and adopting an improvement led approach to policy implementation. Engagement in local context is critical to understand local industry dynamics and laws. Proximity to worker communities also enables frequent monitoring, outreach and support (e.g. during COVID-19) and on-the-ground insight into supply chains.

Encouraging brands and suppliers to work together to increase transparency of their full supply chains can help improve working conditions and address risks of human rights abuses. VSCF interventions have demonstrated that local service providers are critical; they provide local context, presence, and act as partners for remediation in instances of discovering indicators of risk. The use of local service providers also builds local capacity and provides means for scale and sustainability. Scaling initiatives such as this takes time. By having a local partner acting as an enabler, facilitator and creating the expertise within the local ecosystem will facilitate scaling such initiatives.