The Dutch Agreement on Sustainable Garments and Textiles (AGT) has been criticised after an investigation found member affiliates failing to adequately address specific problems around human rights risks in the factories they work with.
Research was carried out on 34 of the 55 signatory companies of the Dutch Agreement of Sustainable Garments and Textile (AGT) from 1 February to 1 May by Clean Clothes Campaign Netherlands (Schone Kleren Campagne or SKC) and Netherlands-based research group Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO). The aim was to study the alignment of these companies’ public reporting with the OECD’s Guidance regarding the implementation of due diligence for Responsible Business Conduct (RBC).
In their report, the CCC and SOMO said that while all the member companies affiliated withe the AGT were reporting on human rights risks at a country level, only half were addressing the problem at their supplier factories.
Companies investigated include Arrivee, Claudia Sträter, Kings of Indigo, Culture Centaur, Ladress, De Bijenkorf, Expresso, G-Star Raw, O’Neill and Zeeman.
The report added there is also a “lack of concrete information” about companies’ actions to address problems in their supply chains. Most companies appear to have little or no dialogue with factory workers, the organisations state, noting the companies’ reports reveal that AGT member companies take “far too little action” to explain to workers, unions, and other stakeholders how to access remedy and where they can go if they want to file a complaint. Finally, only a small number of companies are transparent about their production locations and provide factory names and addresses on their web sites, the report states.
“We were disappointed with these results,” said Willemijn Rooijmans, researcher at SKC. “Not one brand actually does it right. Essential elements of international corporate social responsibility are missing from these reports.”
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By GlobalDataSustainability across borders
The Agreement on Sustainable Garments and Textile (AGT) is part of a Dutch government system that aims to bring companies from individual business sector together to examine how they can operate more sustainably across borders. The aim of the AGT is to prevent, mitigate and remedy human-rights violations, such as dangerous working conditions, trade-union busting, child labour, and poverty wages; all of which continue to be endemic in international garments and textile supply chains.
The Agreement aims to make progress on two important topics for the sector: freedom of association (the right to form workers’ unions) in factories, and living wages.
The SKC and SOMO said that while the importance of these issues is widely recognised by companies, the research shows a lack of action by AGT member brands.
“There is not enough pressure behind this type of voluntary relationship to achieve results,” Rooijmans said. “We distinguish the same patterns in similar initiatives abroad. We would prefer to see legislation forcing companies to make real efforts to prevent and deal with human rights violations in their supply chains. Companies should also communicate about this publicly. Independent supervision and sanctions for companies that fail to carry our due diligence should be part of this legislation. Binding legislation is not only more effective, it is also fair because every company would be competing from the same starting point.”
Searching for detail
In its response, the Dutch AGT said last year was the first year that companies had to report on their efforts in the field of international responsible business conduct (due diligence).
“Many companies are still searching for the degree of detail in this,” it said in a statement. “In 2019, the assessment framework has already been further tightened, with more emphasis being placed on measuring how companies at the production location level tackle problems and ensure that their stakeholders are part of this. AGT wants to monitor better how companies are doing and encourage them to take the next steps.
“AGT supports the participating companies to set up a due diligence system step by step, with the aim of tackling risks in the chain. Many companies will be assessed for the fourth year this year. Special attention will be paid to the way in which they involve workers in their supply chains and the extent to which there is access to complaint mechanisms in their chain. In addition, companies are encouraged to communicate more transparently about what they do.”
A spokesperson for the Dutch AGT added: “Companies that participate in the AGT must communicate publicly about their commitment and results by the end of the third year of participation. In 2019, 44 participating companies did this for the first time. Companies thus demonstrate that they are increasingly taking responsibility for their actions. They also make an important and valuable contribution to promoting transparency. These are important steps that contribute to the necessary system changes and the companies deserve recognition for this.
“We recognise Clean Clothes Campaign’s conclusion that not all companies have succeeded in meeting the requirements for the first time. This year, the communication of the participating companies will be explicitly assessed. We are pleased that the Clean Clothes Campaign sees the Covenant as valuable and we are looking for cooperation within and outside the Covenant to encourage companies to fill in all aspects of due diligence.”
Click on the following link to read the full research: Dutch Agreement on Sustainable Garments and Textile – Signatory companies’ due diligence reporting comes up short.
