Vietnamese officials’ rapid confirmation of media allegations about child labour in Saigon garment factories are a serious worry for businesses sourcing garments says the latest issue of THE SOURCE, the Clothesource monthly review of apparel sourcing trends.
“The honesty and transparency of Vietnamese labour officials about the allegations are praiseworthy”
“That’s a serious worry for Western buyers. They need to be extra vigilant about their procedures for monitoring Vietnamese subcontractors – and that’s just about the toughest part of the manufacturing chain to scrutinise”
THE SOURCE contrasts the straightforward approach of the Vietnamese government to the unreliability in Uzbek official denials of forced child labour in its cotton fields – and the difficulty buyers have in dealing with it. “Most reputable Western brands and retailers now boycott Uzbek products” says Flanagan. “But it’s a great deal harder for then to determine whether garments bought from China and India contain Uzbek cotton. There’s still a difference, though: buyers might find child labour’s been involved in garments made in Saigon. But any garment made from Uzbek cotton is certain to have used forced child labour”
THE SOURCE specialises in filtering serious issues confronting professional apparel buyers from the thousands of press releases supplier put out every month
Among the many issues in its latest edition THE SOURCE also highlights:
- A United Nations report claiming World Trade Organisation plans to reduce import duty will devastate most poor-country garment industries
- Why Americans’ plans for extending Africans’ duty-free access under the AGOA programme is bad news for countries like Kenya and Mauritius
- The threat to Nike after Russell Athletic agreed to open a new garment factory in Honduras
- The business strategies of Chinese garment and textile manufacturers whose profits have grown during the recession
- Why Indian market analysts are worried about mounting debt at Indian garment makers with growing sales
- Surprising labour shortages in garment factories throughout the world. Even in North Korea
- Why Cambodian opposition leaders are claiming the country’s garment exports are actually Chinese or Vietnamese. And why they’re almost certainly wrong.
- How November’s strikes at Chinese and Vietnamese garment factories show business is getting back to normal.
