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Asos has agreed to establish and enforce full transparency of its supply chains |
UK online fashion retailer Asos has signed the Anti-Slavery International Charter, committing to help eradicate slavery, forced labour, and child labour in fashion supply chains.
According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), there were at least 40m people in slavery across the world in 2017. The Charter sets out measures which states, NGOs, businesses and individuals can take to end modern slavery across the globe.
The move means Asos agrees to establish and enforce full transparency of its national and international business supply chains and the appropriate regulation of recruitment agencies.
More broadly, the Charter is working to exclude goods produced with slavery practices from international markets, guarantee freedom of association, and create a sufficient and coherent body of law to establish minimum criteria for decent working conditions and protection from exploitation.
“Unfortunately, as the last few months have shown, the modern slavery risks facing the global fashion industry are endemic and deep-rooted,” Asos CEO Nick Beighton says in a statement. “If we are to achieve real, lasting change, the industry collectively needs to accelerate its efforts to eradicate modern slavery, wherever it might exist. Collaboration is critical to solve the problems we face today, and those we will encounter in the future.
“We are committing to use our power to stand up for those who are vulnerable to slavery, to advance emancipation, and to promote access to decent work. The Charter provides a blueprint for fundamental, widespread change that can help us truly address not just modern slavery, but the issues that contribute to it.”
Beighton add that signing the Charter is not a quick fix, nor is it a promise that is easy to fulfil.
“It will require diligent work and full transparency, to shine a light on the dark corners where exploitation might occur. Our promise is to keep tracing our supply chain to as granular a level as possible so we have full visibility of the journey each of our products take from farm to customer, and to continue publishing this regularly, as we do with our global factory list for tiers 1-3 of our supply chain.
“We’ll continue to publish a detailed, open and clear modern slavery statement each year, that helps external stakeholders and partners – as well as ourselves – understand where our own dark corners might lie. And we’ll continue to work with our brand partners and colleagues throughout the industry, as well as NGOs like Anti-Slavery International, to ensure we’re all working together to realise the changes we want to see.”
The commitment comes after a probe into the UK supply chain of online fast fashion retailer Boohoo Group, after one of its Leicester-based supplier factories was paying staff just GBP3.50 (US$4.38) an hour to work in unsafe conditions and in breach of UK coronavirus lockdowns.
The results of the independent review, which was conducted by senior barrister Alison Levitt QC, were released last month.
Boohoo has pledged to strengthen its sourcing team and work more closely with suppliers after the review identified “many failings.”
Meanwhile, earlier this summer, Asos asked its brands with a UK manufacturing presence to make four new ethical manufacturing commitments as a condition to their products being sold on the company’s website.
