(From Newsletter 11)
A Flemish delegation of the Clean Clothes Campaign had a 3 hour meeting with Benetton in Ponzano (Italy)

Last Thursday, July 8th,1999. The occasion permitted the Campaign to present a petition resulting from its recent activities in Flanders, Belgium. The activities, which focused on the Belgian retailer GB and Benetton (the Italian 'company without factories'), made 2 demands: the first for an improvement in working conditions in the garment industry; and the second for better communication with consumers.

GB had already issued a statement on June 26 during the press conference that was held as part of the acitivities of the Campaign, in wich they promised to assign an officer with the responsibility for following up the issues raised by the Campaign. They also stated they wanted a close collaboration with the Campaign and the trade unions and that they would apply for the SA8000 certificate.

Benetton said they were unable to participate in the June 26 meeting and therefore invited representatives of the Clean Clothes Campaign to their headquarters in Ponzano. The timing of the meeting was crucial since it was at a time when the Italian trade unions were negotiating a new collective agreement with Benetton. A new code of conduct with independent monitoring was included in the negotiating agenda. In 1994, when it signed its code of conduct with the trade unions, Benetton was the first company in Italy to have done so. Today, however, it has lost its leading position since codes of conduct have become more precise.

In the course of the discussion Benetton admitted the inadequacies of its self- regulatory system. This merely requires sub-contractors to sign a declaration in which they agree to abide by the company's rules. However Benetton has no internal monitoring procedures whatsoever and relies on the information of the trade unions. And in the event of an infringement Benetton simply terminates the contract.

Benetton acknowledged its surprise at the recent actions by consumers against its products. They had previously thought that their publicity campaigns were a sufficient response to the social issues that had been raised by consumers. Last year's case in Turkey had been the turning point. The Italian newspaper Corriere dela Sera had revealed that child labour was used in Turkey for the production of clothing for Benetton and it had led to a serious denting of the company's social image.

Benetton has 60 outlets in Belgium but has no service dealing with consumers'queries concerning working conditions. The company said they could not provide such a service in Belgium but that they were prepared to examine ways by which they could inform consumers about their social policy.

Clean Clothes Campaign, Wetstraat 121, 1040 Brussels, Belgium tel.(0032)(02)237 37 46; fax. (0032)(02)237 37 00