News

Three industry organisations, SOMO and the secretariat of the Dutch Agreement on Sustainable Garments and Textile are offering enterprises a workshop on the garment industry in Myanmar. The aim is to provide an insight into what is involved in responsible manufacturing in "at risk" countries. Myanmar is an example of this.

How do the Dutch Agreement on Sustainable Garments and Textile and the German Partnership for Sustainable Textiles work? The two initiatives organised a meeting during the OECD conference on the garment industry on 30 January, where they announced that they would be cooperating more closely.

The participants in the Agreement Responsible Gold have opened the door to due diligence. The interpretation, examples and experiences exchanged in a workshop on the subject will be the springboard for the individual participants to get down to work in this area. Eleven of the agreement’s twenty participants took part in the workshop.

The Dutch Agreement on Sustainable Garments and Textile has acquired a new signatory: Fristads Kansas Benelux BV. Like its Agreement partners, it will work to prevent such abuses as exploitation, animal suffering and environmental damage in production countries.

German Partnership for Sustainable Textiles and Dutch Agreement on Sustainable Garments and Textile announce strategic cooperation.

Based on the published list of production sites, a number of organisations have reported issues observed in production countries. NGOs, government and companies are now working together to tackle abuses like failure to pay a living wage or recognise trade union rights. This type of cooperation has not been possible before. It is only one of the results that the coalition united in the Dutch Agreement on Sustainable Garments and Textile presents in its annual report.

The Dutch pensions sector, the Dutch government, trade unions and NGOs have agreed to work together in the months ahead on an agreement promoting international responsible business conduct (IRBC). In March 2017, the Federation of the Dutch Pension Funds published the Pension Funds IRBC Declaration of Intent indicating its willingness to work towards an IRBC agreement.

The UN Forum on Business and Human Rights convened recently in Geneva. Among the 3000 participants from around the world were representatives of the secretariat for the Dutch Agreement on Garments and Textile. Many of the Forum participants pushed for legislation to prevent human rights violations.

Much of the wool we wear comes from sheep that have been subject to mulesing, a procedure in which strips of wool-bearing skin are removed without any painkillers being administered. The animal welfare charity FOUR PAWS is against this practice and supports the use of a special quality mark for wool.

Another party has become a signatory to the Dutch Agreement on Sustainable Garments and Textile. Mauritz & Zn. has joined the list of enterprises that signed the Agreement earlier. Like its Agreement partners, it will work to prevent such abuses as exploitation, animal suffering and environmental damage in production countries.