The abuse and exploitation of child workers in the textiles and clothing industry could be virtually eliminated if a voluntary international textile testing certification process was adopted in the UK and across Europe, says one of the world's leading textile testing laboratories.
Manchester, UK, based Shirley Technologies (STL) is a member of the 'Made in Green' Group which tests and audits textiles and production processes for dangerous substances, and evidence of human rights abuse in the production chain.
Those products passing the tests and audit are awarded a 'Made in Green' (www.madeingreen.com) label, which can be stitched into clothing or textiles and indicates the product has been produced in respect of social responsibility, ecological and environmental guidelines.
Discussing recent news coverage about clothing chains such as Primark, most notably in the recent BBC Panorama programme about it, STL's Phil Whitaker sais: "The programme was interesting in that it showed up the problems in auditing and tracking supplier chains in the textile industry. The advantage of 'Made in Green' is that it tests the product range, audits the processing in the factory, audits the environmental impact and ensures compliance with social responsibility guidelines all at once," said Phil Whitaker of STL.
"Obviously, we are not party to all the detail, but we would offer the cautious observations that the social responsibility audit carried out in the factory shown in Monday night's programme appeared not to have 'cross referenced' to production processes and products. Obviously, handsewn items are going to be labour intensive and time consuming and so it seems to follow that in order to hand sew sequins or any other similar accessory on hundreds of thousands of garments in a very short time it would take a small army of people to complete on schedule."
The 'Made in Green' testing and audit process involves three elements: Oeko-Tex 100 certification which guarantees products do not contain substances harmful to health, Oeko-Tex 1000 which confirms current environmental legislation compliance, and CCRS-AITEX, which ensures compliance with corporate social responsibility guidelines including child labour.
However STL recently asked 2,000 UK shoppers did they recognise Oeko-Tex labelling (which can also be a stand-alone certification), and only six percent said they knew what it was.
Despite the worthy, voluntary initiative, the inclusion of textile labels within the manufacturing process is surely open to abuse at the manufacturing or offshore distribution end of the process – the very link in the chain where the problem originates. Given the vast global business in fake designer clothing and accessories – found on every street corner wherever there are tourists with money to spend – it would surely be routine to fake such a voluntary accreditation process, given that it is so poorly recognised and understood.
The real issue is one of simple economics: any Western superstore-style retailer able to sell in bulk apparently quality, pret-a-porter-inspired goods for the cost of a sandwich and a coffee must be sourcing the materials at next-to-zero prices from large offshore workforces. There is, after all, no such thing as a free (in any sense) shirt.
As labour costs rise on the back of high net worth industries in China, India, and elsewhere, labour arbitrage advantages become harder and harder to find at the lower-end manufacturing part of the market. In countries and regions where labour laws are decades behind those of the West – partly suppressed by European and American purchasing power – abuses within the workforce are the inevitable concomitant of low high street prices. Ethics come with a higher price tag – and it is one we must now bear.