News on Codes, Monitoring, and Verification

New SOMO/CCC Monitoring Project

News from the Netherlands

In late December the Dutch government passed a resolution stating that the government's purchasing policy concerning garments should refer to internationally-accepted environmental norms and ILO standards. The resolution says that the government has to start with a pilot project with uniforms procured by the Ministry of Defense.

In 2000-2001 the Dutch Center for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO) coordinated a project that brought together the different code monitoring initiatives that the CCC is involved in (such as the UK based ETI, the Dutch-based Fair Wear Foundation, and the Swedish and Swiss CCC pilot projects). Recently new funding was obtained from the European Commission to continue the project. In addition to information exchange and debate about current concerns relating to monitoring and verification of code compliance, the project group plans to publish a terminology guide and to investigate the possibilities for complaint procedures for workers, NGOs, and trade unions to report code violations. The group also plans to write up several case studies to document the experiences of the various pilot projects. For more information, see the project website <http://www.cleanclothes.org/codes/monitoring>. Once again the CCC International Secretariat is a partner in this project and welcomes input and feedback. Contact person for this project is Ineke Zeldenrust, who can be contacted via info@cleanclothes.org.

UNRISD Publication on Codes and CSR

The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), together with the United Nations Non Governmental Liaison Service (UN-NGLS) published a book last July called "Voluntary Approaches to Corporate Responsibility - Readings and a Resource Guide."

The first section, "Corporate Codes of Conduct: Self-Regulation in a Global Economy," written by Rhys Jenkins, details the changes that have taken place in corporate regulation, explores what is behind the growing number of corporate codes of conduct, and describes the different stakeholders involved. Section two, Peter Utting's contribution on "Regulating Business via Multistakeholder Initiatives: A Preliminary Assessment," outlines the move from state-led regulation in the 1960s and 1970s, to corporate self-regulation in the 1980s and 1990s, to the more recent trend of co-regulation involving corporations, NGOs and multilateral organizations. Section three is Renato Alva Pino's survey of information sources on corporate social and environmental responsibility.

This volume is available free of charge from NGLS or from UNRISD. Contact tombez@unrisd.org or download the full text via:
http://www.unsystem.org/ngls/documents/publications.en/develop.
dossier/dd.07%20(csr)/1contents.htm

Report on Seminar on Codes, Monitoring, and Worker Organizing

A two-day seminar called "Codes, Monitoring and Worker Organizing" was organized in February 2002 in Puebla, Mexico by the Maquila Solidarity Network. The seminar brought together representatives of labor, women's, non-governmental and independent monitoring groups from Mexico, the Caribbean, the US, Central America, and Canada to discuss, debate, and seek common ground on whether and how codes of conduct and monitoring can assist workers in organizing to improve conditions and win respect for their rights. The full report can be found at http://www.cleanclothes.org/ftp/PueblaRpt.pdf and of course via www.maquilasolidarity.org

ILO Monitoring Project in Cambodia

In September the ILO Social Dialogue program published the fourth synthesis report on working conditions in Cambodia's garment sector. The report (as well as the three previous reports) is available at http://www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/ifpdial/publ/cambodia3.htm. This fourth synthesis report contains an overview of findings for 65 factories.

The project was set up by the ILO after the 1999 trade agreement between the United States and Cambodia specified that export quota could be increased provided the Cambodian government supports "the implementation of a programme to improve working conditions in the textile and apparel sector, including internationally recognised core labour standards, through the application of Cambodian labour law."

The project aims to improve working conditions in Cambodia's textile and apparel sector through:

establishing and operating an independent system to monitor working conditions in garment factories;
providing assistance in drafting new laws and regulations where necessary as a basis for improving working conditions and giving effect to the labour law;
increasing the awareness of employers and workers of core international labour standards and workers' and employers' rights under Cambodian labour law;
increasing the capacity of employers and workers and their respective organizations to improve working conditions in the garment sector through their own efforts; and
building the capacity of government officials to ensure greater compliance with core labour standards and Cambodian labour laws.

The synthesis reports make for interesting reading both about the situation in Cambodia's factories as well as about the methodology developed for the independent monitoring system.