Sustainability across garment supply chains in the US, Mexico, the Caribbean as well as Central and South America will form the focus of the next annual meeting hosted by the American Apparel Producers' Network (AAPN).

Bringing together speakers from Kohl's, Patagonia, Nike, Anvil Knits and Under Armour, as well as factories, yarn spinners, mills, trim, shipping, labs and designers, the agenda spans the supply chain from end to end.

One of the main objectives of the meeting is to create a shared vision of the direction of sustainability in apparel and textiles, based on an understanding of who does what in the supply chain.

It will also look at the strategic practice of balancing sourcing with new requirements and mandates coming out of the sustainability movement.

"We're going to take supply chains working in this hemisphere right now - cotton farming, spinning, weaving, trim, cut/sew, finishing, logistics, distribution and brand/retail - and hold them up to the light and see for ourselves what is working," explains AAPN managing director Mike Todaro.

The event's theme - 'Sustainabilty: Let's Get It Right!' - was prompted in part by Wal-Mart's efforts to highlight the sustainability movement. 

"But even Walmart found that 92% of what has to be done falls outside their enterprise, in the respective supply chains of their vendors," Todaro says.

"When we learned that, we knew that as the industry's only end-to-end supply chain network, we could accelerate this campaign."

One of the challenges, of course, will be to define sustainability, and "what parts of sustainability our network can actually impact."

It currently embraces everything from the environment and social responsibility, through to risk assessment, balanced sourcing, economic considerations, compliance, testing, certification and a widening range of scores.

Delegates representing the 150 companies and 600 individuals in the AAPNetwork also hope to create a shared vision of the direction of sustainability in apparel/textiles, as well as set and share standards and scorecards to guide actions across the chain.

The American Apparel Producers' Network annual meeting takes place from 2-4 May 2010 at the Loews Miami Beach. Click here for more details.