The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) and the Fair Labor Association have drawn up a program aimed at fair treatment of workers in the global apparel, footwear, and travel goods supply chain. The commitment is a proactive industry effort to address potential forced labor risks for migrant workers in the global supply chain.

More than a hundred apparel and footwear companies have signed the commitment. Each signatory commits to working with its partners to create conditions where no worker pays for their job; where workers retain control of their travel documents and have full freedom of movement; and workers are informed of the basic terms of their employment before joining the workforce.

The signing companies have also agreed to work to implement these practices, to incorporate the commitment into their social compliance standards by December 31, 2019, and to periodically report the company’s actions through sustainability and/or modern slavery legal disclosures.

Through this commitment the American Apparel & Footwear Association aims to show customers that it takes the issue of forced labor seriously and is proactively working together as an industry to initiate measures to ensure these values are respected throughout the supply chain.

Creating a more transparent supply chain has long been a focus of the apparel and footwear industry and removing the possibility of forced labor is a major part of these efforts.