Dear PFI community,
In recent years, there is a growing concern about how to improve supply chain management. The traceability of materials and socially and environmentally sound manufacturing is the key to achieving this. Despite the these challenging times, PFI Fareast continues to expand its international team of sustainability and technical experts, as well as investing in equipment to assist our clients in accomplishing these goals.
PFI aims to be your eyes and ears in global supply chains. In contrast to past decades, PFI has now broadened its focus, assisting brands to obtain a more accurate overview of suppliers and improve quality assurance within their supply chains.
Undoubtedly, there are challenges ahead, particularly in terms of environmental and labour protection, as well as supply chain management. Meanwhile, the fashion industry sees biodegradable and recycled materials as tangible future sourcing opportunities. PFI will take corresponding measures and help our clients to steer through unforeseen obstacles and offer solutions to the challenges ahead.
Mrs. Candice Wang and Dr. Gerhard Nickolaus
Managing Directors of PFI Fareast
PFI’s international conference, your guide to the German supply chain law
PFI Fareast welcomes supply chain specialist, Beatrice Walter as PFI’s new Project Manager
PFI Fareast becomes a registered third party ZDHC provider for “MRSL 2.0 Accepted Conformance Indicator” to assists chemical manufacturers in meeting restricted chemical requirements
Global Supply Chain News
Updates on the German Supply Chain Law: mandatory human rights and environmental protection due diligence to be made a legal requirement
The Lieferkettengesetz (supply chain law in English), obliges German corporations to comply with social and environmental laws across their supply chains, including their suppliers on a global scale. If the new requirements are not met, a Lieferkettengesetz (LKG) controlling body, soon to be established by Germany’s economy ministry can impose fines and businesses risk being excluded from public procurement.
According to the article, “Germany to enact law to fight labour abuses abroad” the bill is expected to be officially approved this month. Labour minister Hubertus Heil said “he hoped it would be adopted by parliament before September’s general elections, allowing the law to come into force from 2023. The German legislation would be ‘the most ambitious’ in the world and would hopefully ‘set a standard’ for the rest of Europe.”
NGOs and trade unions will be able to represent foreign workers to file claims and bring lawsuits against German businesses. Initially, LKG will only apply to businesses with more than 3,000 staff until 2024, when it will expand to be applicable to smaller companies with over one thousand employees.
PFI Fareast is a global leader in sustainable supply chain solutions with over 60 years of experience in the footwear, garment, leather, and consumer goods industries. PFI Fareast offers both social and environmental compliance services advised by its supply chain and sustainability experts. Talk to us today to learn more about how to respond to the impending law.
Source:
https://www.newagebd.net/article/130031/germany-to-enact-law-to-fight-labour-abuses-abroad
Plastic problem needs to be addressed: plastic microfibres discovered in the stomach of deep-sea fish
Fish collected from distant islands in the South Atlantic Ocean tested positive for the presence of microplastics, said researchers from Royal Holloway University of London. PhD student at the UK university, Alex McGoran, who is also a researcher at the Natural History Museum, said in an article on the site: that “on closer inspection, Alex found that even the prey inside the fish had eaten plastic fibres. For example, inside one common fangtooth fish there was a cock-eyed squid and a bearded sea devil which had both eaten plastic. This suggests that plastic might be being passed up the food chain.”
Close the loop on the amount of plastic entering the world’s oceans by producing products made with recycled plastic bottles. PFI offers product certifications: Recycled Material Certification (RMC) and Recycled Material Certification Blue (RMC Blue) to increase the amount of recycled plastic used in fashion supply chains and keep it out of the ocean. Communicate your efforts to consumers through PFI’s on product QR codes, enabling consumers to verify the percentage of recycled material their product contains. Click this link to learn more about upcycling plastic waste into new products.
Eradicate gender-based abuse: international NGOs call on big fashion names to negotiate a binding agreement
According to international labour rights forum: Global Labor Justice, “Negotiations Stalled as 90+ International Labor Groups Call on H&M, Gap, PVH and their Supplier Eastman Exports to Sign Binding Agreement to End Gender-Based Violence”, a young female Tamil Nadu Textile and Common Labour Union (TTCU) member and garment worker was abused and murdered by her supervisor earlier this year. Her family was left to face intimidation from the company, compelling them to take only a small amount of financial compensation with no blame laid on the firm.
“In light of this more than 90 trade unions and allied groups from around the world have come together to support of TTCU’s demand for fair compensation for the family and protection for all other workers through an enforceable and binding agreement with H&M, Gap, PVH and their supplier, Eastman Exports, to end the supply chain model relying on systemic gender-based violence. This agreement would include future monitoring, remediation and prevention of gender-based violence and barriers to freedom of association, mutually agreed terms for an independent investigation and family compensation using established benchmarks for apparel workers,” explained the article.
PFI Fareast offers social audit services that monitor global supply chains’ social compliance performance, helping brands and traders to source from trustworthy, ethical suppliers. Our highly experienced experts verify and improve the social performance of your supply chain according to PFI standards or designated international codes of conduct.
Reports
Corporate Equality Index 2021: Rating Workplaces on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Equality, Human Rights Campaign Foundation.
“The following report is reflective of verified data submitted to the HRC Foundation as well as independent research on non-responding businesses. Wherever credit can be verified, all ranked businesses will receive it, irrespective of their participation in the CEI survey”
https://hrc-prod-requests.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/CEI-2021_FINAL.pdf
COVID-19 and human rights study, World Benchmarking Alliance.
“By carrying out this separate study, we wanted to explore the response of the private sector to COVID-19. The aim was to identify examples of best practice, where companies have demonstrably placed respect for human rights at the heart of their approach, as well as to highlight instances where companies may have been falling short and where increased accountability is therefore needed.”
https://www.worldbenchmarkingalliance.org/research/covid-19-and-human-rights-study/
The Impact of COVID-19 on Suppliers, Sedex.
“This report focuses on how Sedex supplier members have experienced and responded to the crisis. Sedex uses self-reported data from around 1,000 supplier business sites who have reported the impacts on their business operations, via our COVID-19 Self-Assessment Questionnaire. We compare this with data collected in April 2020 about the pandemic’s initial impacts – drawing clear insights about supplier impacts, and our recommendations about what businesses can do to continue navigating their way out of the pandemic”
https://www.sedex.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Sedex-Impact-of-COVID-19-on-Supply-Chains-FINAL.pdf
