The demand of consumers for environmentally sensitive products in textile and garment affects production models in the world. International brands and suppliers gather under the Social & Labor Convergence Program (SLCP) to reduce costs and use resources more effectively. Ege Garment and Apparel Exporters' Association (EHKİB) organized an information event on these issues.
Speaking in the event attended by 50 exporting companies, which are members of EHKİB, Burak Sertbaş, Chairman of EHKİB, states that sustainability and social compliance issues in textile and apparel sectors have recently gained a great momentum and they have made efforts to meet these demands with minimum cost.
Customers and Brands Determine Demands
Emphasizing that they have received a lot of feedback from the exporting companies about the fact that they need to undergo a high number of different audit processes depending on the changing social compliance certification requirements of the customers and brands, and that this situation results in significant time and financial losses, Sertbaş states that, “We are aware of the fact that improving sustainability, social and working conditions is no longer an option but a necessity and responsibility of the sector. We are aware of the need for our sector to adopt a more sustainable production model. In the sector, we attach importance and priority to working conditions, ethical issues and our impact on the environment.”
Pointing out that social audits cause significant material and time burdens for both brands and manufacturers in textile and garment sectors, Sertbaş says that, "I believe that the event organized by the joint venture SLCP, which aims to reduce costs and make use of resources more efficient by gathering social audits under a single platform, will be fruitful for all parties."
Within the scope of SLCP's Social Audit Programs Promotion Event, presentations were made to Sharon Hesp, Senior Operations Manager of SCLP; Madison Wilcox, representative of the International Trade Centre (ITC), which shares information with SLCP; and Caner Soytaş, Social Compliance Manager in İstanbul contract office of a famous clothing brand.
SLCP brings together global apparel brands, numerous textile and apparel value chain suppliers, financial controllers and sectoral organizations. Cooperating with the International Trade Centre for information sharing, SLCP continues its efforts to ensure that all brands obtain auditory data from a single data repository and the overall target for manufacturing companies require each company to undergo audit once in the upcoming years.
