Social Accountability International (SAI) and Solidaridad, a Dutch
organization that fights poverty through fair trade, have started to
seek out ethical suppliers in China’s textile sector.
Using SAI’s
SA8000 workplace standard as a base for assessing potential suppliers,
the two organizations will connect organic cotton producers, fair trade
producers and factories to make goods for Solidaridad’s two-year old
‘Made-By’ clothes label.
SAI said ‘a process of identifying producers
who might qualify and/or work towards such certifications in the near
term’ had begun in February.
Solidaridad’s label has been criticized by
the Clean Clothes Campaign in the past for not giving enough attention
to conditions in Chinese factories or for involving trade unions enough
in its ethical supply chain management.
