Herausgeber_in: Agreement on Sustainable Garments and Textiles

Schlagwörter: Bekleidungsindustrie, niederlande, Unternehmensverantwortung, MultistakeholderInitativen, MSI

Kurzbeschreibung:
Many businesses in the Netherlands have outsourced their production to countries outside the European Union. These are countries where human rights, worker health and safety, environmental protection and animal rights may be at risk. Dutch companies are obliged to avoid these risks under international guidelines and agreements such as the United Nations’ Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the OECD’s Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, and the ILO’s fundamental labour standards. Under the OECD Guidelines, for example, businesses must investigate the extent to which they could be implicated in human rights, environmental or animal welfare violations. This is known as due diligence. Problems in emerging markets in the developing world are often so complex that there is very little one company can achieve alone. That is why a broad coalition of partners has signed the Dutch Agreement on Sustainable Garments and Textile. They include industry associations, trade unions, NGOs, and the National Government of the Netherlands Commitment. The businesses and organisations that sign the agreement commit themselves to fighting discrimination, child labour and forced labour. They also undertake to support a living wage, health and safety standards for workers, and the right of independent trade unions to negotiate. In addition, they will do everything in their power to reduce the negative impact of their activities on the environment, to prevent animal abuse, to reduce the amount of water, energy and chemicals that they use, and to produce less chemical waste and waste water. Transparency is a critical factor when it comes to identifying risks and working together to make improvements. One of the first steps was for the participating companies to share their production sites, an aggregated list of which has been made available. They also agreed on the project method. Results. The aim is for at least 50% of the Dutch garment and textile sector to support the agreement by 2018, and 80% by 2021. We intend to see an improvement in working conditions and/or wages in textile-producing businesses as well as in animal welfare and environmental protection. More and more garments and textiles will be produced under better and safer conditions, and a growing number of shops will be able to meet the consumer demand for fair and sustainable products.

Erscheinungsjahr: 2017

Umfang: 8 Seiten

Sprache: Englisch

Bezug: kostenfrei zum Download

Herausgeber_in: somo

Autor_in: Esther de Haan & Martje Theuws

Schlagwörter: Bekleidungsindustrie, Fair Wear Foundation, Ostafrika, Niederlande

Kurzbeschreibung:
Global garment brands and retailers are continuously looking for cheap(er) production locations; as a result speed and low costs have become important requirements for manufacturers. Rising minimum wages in countries such as China and Vietnam have led to a shift in production, first to Bangladesh, later to Myanmar and now Ethiopia is said to become the next hub for textile and apparel sourcing. Mondiaal FNV commissioned SOMO to conduct a short mapping (‘Quick Scan’) of the Ethiopian garment industry. The aim of the requested Quick Scan was to identify which international brands and retailers are currently sourcing garments from Ethiopia as well as the linkages that exist between the Ethiopian garment industry and the Dutch market. Mondiaal FNV is working together with CNV and the Fair Wear Foundation in a five year partnership with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2016-2020). One of the countries the partnership will focus on is Ethiopia, where the organisations intend to work together with local partners to stimulate social dialogue, to establish a living wage and to reduce gender discrimination.

Erscheinungsjahr: 2017

Umfang: 30

Sprache: Englisch

Bezug: kostenfrei zum Download

Herausgeber: SOMO

Autorin: Gisela ten Kate

Schlagwörter:  öffentliche Beschaffung, faire Beschaffung, Verantwortung von Regierungen, Niederlande

Kurzbeschreibung:
The government can play a stimulating role in preventing the violation of international labour standards through its own purchasing and procurement policies and pratices. Within the United Nations Principles for Business and Human Rights (UN Guiding Principles) public procurement is explicitly mentioned as a tool for governments to promote labour rights in companies. The Dutch government has set targets for sustainable procurement and developed the so-called Social Policy, in which international labour standards are included.
SOMO feels that the Dutch government can have a positive impact on working conditions in the global supply chains through its own socially public procurement. However, it is not clear how this policy by the national government should be applied. SOMO aims to provide more insight into the practical application of the Social Conditions in the procurement proces , so that policy makers and civil society can improve on this through policy evaluations .
This study assesses the implementation of the national policy on the national level, within the provinces and lower governing bodies. SOMO looked at tenders in electronics (phones), (company) clothing, coffee (for vending machines) and natural stone (for the renovation of streets or public squares). This study shows that governments hardly apply the national policies. In only 3 of the 25 cases, they were literally referred to. In 15 of 25 cases (60 %), respect for international labour standards were included in the tender specifications, but this was mostly not done according to the rules and guidelines of the national policy for sustainable procurement.

Erscheinungsjahr: 2014

Umfang: 16 Seiten

Sprache: englisch

Zielgruppe: Erwachsene

Medien:  Hintergrundinformationen

Bezug: Kostenfrei zum Download bei somo.nl.