By Jeroen Merk
Jeroen@cleanclothes.org
Comments welcome

Paper written for:
CCC Round Table on Purchasing Practices
London, 11 May 2005
© Clean Clothes Campaign

Introduction

Addressing the negative impact that purchasing practices or sourcing systems can have on code compliance was one of main demands in the Play Fair at the Olympics campaign. It urged companies to '…change their purchasing practices so that they do not lead to workers' exploitation, with prices being made fair, deadlines realistic, and labour standards given the same status as price, time, and quality'. In other words, it was recommended that sourcing companies address the conflicting logic of simultaneously pursuing lower prices and shorter delivery times whilst at the same time pursuing compliance with labour standards.

At least at first sight, this recommendation fits in well with the CCC's basic position that a company's responsibility for ethical working conditions encompasses its complete subcontracting chain all the way down to the garment home workers. Since purchasing practices represent the single most important way through which commercial relations are established, it seems totally logical that this demand has become a part of the campaign activities. At the same time, however, much remains unclear about this topic. Buyer-supplier relationships in apparel supply chains are very complicated, and involve management problems that are very different from our usual concerns. It requires a knowledge of the relationships within production chains: Who is involved at what stage, where and on whose behalf. Not only are these contracts established behind closed doors, there is also little academic or ILO research to fall back on.

This paper will first briefly discuss the main elements related to purchasing practices and their relation to the CCC's campaign activities. Then I will briefly recall some experiences from the Play Fair campaign concerning purchasing practices. I will conclude with some questions for further discussion. For the CCC, this was the first public campaign in which purchasing practices emerged as an important element. This was certainly important as both a learning experience and as a way of getting the topic discussed. However, it is important to raise some questions about how far campaigners should go down this road.

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