South Asian textile lack social compliance

14 Mar '12

5 min read

The Asian nelghbourhood does have a problem of pollution. The Pearl River in the Chinese town of Xlntang In Guangzhou that sends 40% of its jeans production to the US is polluted. Why are the American brands and retailers turning a blind eye to this issue?
More than 300 mills in China had to be shutdown recently for causing pollution. The western world is imposing rules because they have been through this before. It does not want Asia's 4.5 billion population to make the same mistake that it made during the Great Industrial Revolution.

There is a greater urgency to clamp down on pollution. River Thames in UK took 200 years to get better! In Thailand, where I spent my childhood, I saw the inland water ways turning brackish when industrial revolution happened in late 70s. Fortunately, owing to awareness about environment protection, the water has come back to life.

Factories on their part have to ensure that they do their businesses in a responsible way. The issue is about sustainability and keeping the eco-system alive. Only 3% of our water is fresh, 1% of this is available, so we need to protect it. Dyeing mills are potentially high-risk environmental polluters if not managed in a responsible way. Recently, NGOs have begun to focus heavily on irresponsible polluters of waterways and brands and their manufactures will be held accountable.

Labour rights activists have been demanding implementation of Asia Floor Wage to strike parity in wages. Do you see that happening?
It is difficult to talk about parity across destinations owing to variables like geography, food inflation, exchange rate and different livable wages. This will mean different things to different people. The cost of maintenance is different in different countries. Nevertheless, brands and factories are working to strike a right balance.

Shouldn't brands be shouldering the responsibility of compliance by paying well enough to the factories to ensure that wages are taken care of?
Several retailers and brands have begun to monitor their supply chains and are mitigating risks to make everyone accountable. A decade ago, people worked for an existence. Now, they work for a Iifestyle. With social media and the increasing visibility of supply chains, we see economics of the markets at work. If factories do not look after their workers or protect the environment then they are at risk of losing their employees and community raising the red flag.

Economic Times

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