The 9th OECD Forum on Due Diligence in the Garment and Footwear Sector will take place on 16-17 February 2023 in a hybrid format.
The Forum brings together representatives of government, business, trade unions and civil society to review progress on the implementation of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains in the Garment and Footwear Sector to address emerging risks, and to share learnings on implementing due diligence across geographies in a neutral environment.
- Day1 February 16, 2023
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11:00 - 12:15
Opening of the Forum
Opening RemarksCarmine Di NoiaDirector for Financial and Enterprise AffairsOECD
Keynote SpeechNazma AkterPresidentSommilito Garments Sramik Federation (SGSF)
12:15 - 12:30
COFFEE BREAK
12:30 - 14:00
Closing living wage gaps in garment supply chains: From commitment to action
Living wages are an essential element of the concept and standards of responsible business conduct, on which there is broad consensus that a joint approach is needed to achieve systemic change. The session will provide an overview of the current state of play and explore existing methodologies and frameworks for collaboration between industry, trade unions and governments to close living wage gaps and address other RBC risks linked to low wages. The panel will reflect on main obstacles and identify key areas for action and next steps to scale up implementation in the industry. The session will also provide the opportunity to present and discuss a Handbook for companies to enable living incomes and wages in global supply chains currently developed by the OECD.
Moderator Frankie Whitwell Managing Consultant Twentififty
Speaker Arnoud van Vliet Manager CSR and Quality Zeeman
Speaker Bärbel Kofler Member of the German Parliament and Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development
Speaker Allan Jorgensen Head of Responsible Business Conduct CentreOECD
Speaker Evelyn Astor Economic and Social Policy AdvisorInternational Trade Union Confederation
Speaker Patrick Belser Senior EconomistInternational Labour Organization (ILO)
14:00 - 15:30
LUNCH BREAK
15:30 - 17:00
Assessing RBC due diligence implementation: Reflecting a risk-based approach
Assessing company due diligence efforts is essential to ascertain whether increasing reporting requirements, voluntary commitments and due diligence obligations are effectively implemented in garment and footwear supply chains. The session will explore different options for assessing RBC due diligence. It will consider the opportunities and challenges involved in moving beyond traditional compliance-based checklists towards more risk-based, dynamic approaches. The panellists will discuss assessment efforts by, for example, voluntary initiatives and government agencies and explore whether different sources of information and meaningful indicators of progress are sufficiently considered when assessing RBC due diligence.
Moderator Hannah Koep-Andrieu Head of Due Diligence OECD Centre for Responsible Business Conduct
Speaker Aruna Kashyap Associate Director Human Rights Watch
Speaker Margreet Vrieling Associate Director Fair Wear Foundation
Speaker Sarosh KuruvillaAndrew J. Nathanson Family Professor in Industrial and Labor Relations Cornell University
17:00 - 17:30
COFFEE BREAK
17:30 - 19:00
Due Diligence of circular value chains: Addressing the risks associated with circular processes
Increasing expectations from consumers and legislators on garment and footwear companies to reduce their environmental footprint are driving brands and producers alike to look for ways of keeping the value of products and materials as long as possible in the production and use cycle. In transitioning to circular approaches, companies create new business linkages both upstream and downstream of their value chain that require them to extend their due diligence to new associated risks. The session will explore what new business relationships, for instance, with recyclers, sorters, collectors or new materials producers and processors imply for RBC due diligence, and what considerations are important when exercising due diligence on circular value chains.
Moderator Libby Annat PartnerDue Diligence Design
Speaker Zubeida Zwavel Executive DirectorCentre for African Resource Efficiency and Sustainability (CARES), South Africa
Speaker María Luisa Martínez Díez Public Affairs DirectorGlobal Fashion Agenda
Speaker Payal Jain Head of Social Impact H&M Group
Speaker Mauro Scalia Director Sustainable BusinessesEuratex
17:30 - 19:00
Worker engagement and the role of trade unions in due diligence
To ensure meaningful due diligence, companies need to actively engage with workers and trade unions in every step of the due diligence process. The session will provide an opportunity to reflect on the right to Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining and discuss the need for engaging trade unions and workers in the design, implementation and tracking of due diligence. Panellists will identify obstacles to meaningful worker engagement, share best practice examples, and discuss approaches how to improve worker engagement in the sector through, for example, workers’ access to data, training, use of worker voice tools and global framework agreements.
Moderator Githa Roelans Head, Multinational Enterprises UnitSustainable Enterprises Department, International Labour Organization (ILO), Geneva
Speaker Kenichi Tomiyoshi Executive Vice PresidentJapan Textile Federation
Speaker Andrei Vasiliev Social Impact ManagerBESTSELLER
Speaker Veronica Nilsson General SecretaryTrade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC)
Speaker Nazma Akter President Sommilito Garments Sramik Federation (SGSF)
- Day 2 February 17, 2023
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10:30 - 12:00
Greenwashing your clothes? Addressing unsubstantiated sustainability claims in the garment and footwear sector
For many companies in the garment and footwear sector, product sustainability claims have been the answer to increased market expectations to prove their efforts. Recent investigations by consumer market authorities in the sector, however, found that product claims used by companies and retailers are often not sufficiently backed by product-specific data, were too generic or selective. The session aims to explore the types of claims used by companies and retailers and discuss the implications of unsubstantiated claims for companies and the industry at large. Panellists will discuss whether claims can become more credible by improved data collection, transparency, and awareness. They will also explore whether collecting specific and reliable data to back sustainability claims will remain impossible as long as supply chains remain volatile and complex.
Moderator Andrea Schill Policy Analyst, Garment and Footwear SectorOECD Centre for Responsible Business Conduct
Speaker Tonje Drevland Assistant Director, Supervisory DepartmentNorwegian Consumer Authority
Speaker George Harding-Rolls Campaign ManagerChanging Markets Foundation
Speaker Jeremy Lardeau VP of the Higg IndexSustainable Apparel Coalition
Speaker Kristin Komives Director of ProgrammesISEAL
10:30 - 12:00
Implementing impactful due diligence: a practical perspective from Vietnam
OECD-based Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence is increasingly becoming the norm for mandatory and voluntary regulation across market countries. How can policies be shaped and implemented to realise positive impact on working conditions and the environment? Policy makers and industry experts from Europe and Vietnam discuss this in a two panel, two country Forum session connecting Hanoi and Paris through a partnership between the OECD and The Industry We Want.
Moderator Thanh Hai Nguyen Associate Professor Institute for Human Rights, Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, Hanoi
Moderator Alexander Kohnstamm Executive DirectorFair Wear
Speaker Matthijs Crietee Secretary GeneralInternational Apparel Federation
Speaker Anosha Wahidi Head of Division and Commissary for sustainability standards Federal German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
Speaker Van Binh Nguyen Director, Legal Department, Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Vietnam
Speaker Luu Tien Chung Vice ChairmanVietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS)
SpeakerJoy Roeterdink Head of Corporate ResponsibilitySuit Supply
12:00 - 12:30
COFFEE BREAK
12:30 - 14:00
Due diligence in conflict-affected and high-risk contexts: Enhanced due diligence or responsible disengagement?
Since the 2021 military coup in Myanmar, the recent financial and humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka, or the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, major garment producing hubs have turned into high-risk areas. This confronts responsible international buyers with the dilemma of having to decide whether to continue to operate in those areas to secure the jobs of garment workers, or to disengage to avoid unwillingly contributing to human rights violations. This session will discuss options and solutions available for buyers sourcing from conflict-affected and high-risk areas in light of OECD recommendations on enhanced due diligence and responsible disengagement and the need for further refinement of these in response to new challenges.
Moderator Benjamin Katz Sector Lead, Mineral Supply ChainsOECD Centre for Responsible Business Conduct
Speaker Peter McAllister Executive DirectorEthical Trading Initiative
Speaker Linda Kromjong Presidentamfori
Speaker Karina Ufert CEO European Chamber of Commerce in Myanmar
Speaker Christina Hajagos-Clausen Director for Textile and Garment SectorIndustriALL
Speaker Vicky Bowman Director Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business
14:00 - 15:30
LUNCH BREAK
15:30 - 17:00
Due diligence costs and responsibilities: Collaborative approaches to buyer supplier relationships
Buyer-supplier collaboration on due diligence implementation based on distribution of costs and responsibilities along the supply chain can help support the development of effective due diligence processes and a more equal distribution of the burden of compliance. Within the context of increasing due diligence legislation, and the risk of unduly cascading RBC expectations to upstream parts of the supply chain, the panel will reflect on the benefits and limitations of buyer-supplier collaboration models and highlight current industry examples of successful approaches to shared implementation of due diligence.
Moderator Joris Oldenziel National Contact PointNetherlands
Speaker Sarah Dadush Professor of Law and Director of the Responsible Contracting Project Rutgers Law School
Speaker Xiaohui Liang Chief ResearcherChina National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC)
Speaker Michael Bride Senior Vice President Corporate Responsibility, Global Affairs, RMG Sustainability Council Board Member PVH
Speaker Miran Ali Spokesperson of the Sustainable Terms of Trade InitiativeVice President Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA)
17:00 - 17:30
Closing Session
Closing Remarks Madelaine Tuininga Head of Unit, Directorate-General for TradeEuropean Commission