Amazon Supply Chain Lacks Safety Checks In German Law Complaint

Amazon, Ikea and Tom Tailor have been accused of “failure” under Germany’s Supply Chain Act. This act, enacted last June, and effective this past January, requires companies to mitigate social and environmental abuses within their own and supplier operations.

According to the Sourcing Journal, The African Women Development and Communication Network, better known as FEMNET, as well as the European Center for Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) and the National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF) announced the move exactly 10 years after the Rana Plaza multi-factory building collapsed just outside the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka, killing 1,134 garment workers and injuring many more.

“Now is the time to use the German law to finally oblige such companies that do not want to voluntarily take responsibility for the people in their supply chains to do so,” said Gisela Burkhardt, chair of the board of FEMNET.

In support Haque Amin, president and co-founder of NGWF is quoted:” Ten years after Rama Plaza, there are still factories in Bangladesh producing clothes for international corporations like Amazon, Ikea and Tom Taylor, where there are hardly any safety checks. We can no longer accept this.

Amazon has been highlighted as a company that is selling clothes from factories in Bangladesh that have been backlisted for dangerous workplace conditions.

Miriam Saage Maass, lawyer and legal director of ECCHR said that she is convinced that the companies’ reticence to sign the Accord in all its iterations is a “violation of corporate diligence”.

The filing comes at an opportune moment. More than 190 investors representing $1.3 trillion in assets under management called on brands sourcing from Bangladesh and Pakistan to “strengthen their implementation of human rights and to effectively embed their corporate responsibility to respect human rights” by signing the International Accord and the Pakistan Accord.

Companies are increasingly required to show their effective implementation of human rights law to address human rights issues across their operation. The best way to ensure due diligence on health and safely issues is to join the International Acord and the Pakistan Accord.

POSTSCRIPT: There is a legally binding system designed to protect more than two million garment workers. It will give them means for redress. One hopes that apparel brands that have not signed the International Accord and Pakistan Accord will do so now. The accusations against the three firms, Amazon, Ikea and Tom Tailor are highlighted because of their prominence.