Surge in apparel sector transparency

AMSTERDAM – A new report claims there has been a major surge in apparel brands disclosing information about their supply chains in the past three years. The joint report, by a coalition of unions, human rights groups, and labour rights advocates, claims dozens of brands and retailers are now publicly disclosing information about their supplier factories. It is claimed this is a necessary step for identifying and addressing labour abuses in garment supply chains.

The report says 39 companies have so far aligned or committed to aligning with the Transparency Pledge standard – 22 of them are among the 72 companies that the coalition began engaging with in 2016. Of the 74 companies the coalition ultimately contacted, 31 fell short of the pledge standard and 21 would not publicly disclose relevant information.