Levi’s: Forced Labor Probe Based on ‘Outdated’ Intel
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Canada’s corporate watchdog has opened an investigation into Levi Strauss Canada over its alleged supply chain relationships with Chinese companies identified as using or benefiting from the use of Uyghur forced labor.
The Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise, better known as the CORE, said Wednesday that it arrived at its decision following the completion of an initial assessment report, which it conducted in response to a complaint filed by a coalition of 28 civil society organizations last June.
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The same group, which includes Stop Uyghur Genocide Canada, the Uyghur Refugee Relief Fund and the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project, filed similar complaints against the Canadian subsidiaries of Nike, Ralph Lauren, Diesel, Hugo Boss and Walmart, triggering further inquiries into their operations.
As with those cases, the complainants relied on reports from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and Sheffield Hallam University’s Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice that linked Levi Strauss & Company with suppliers such as Jiangsu Guotai Guosheng Co., Jiangsu Lianfa Textile Co., Huafu Fashion Co., Luthai Textile Co. and Xinjiang Zhongtai with state-sponsored labor transfers and the use of Xinjiang cotton, which makes up 90 percent of China’s supply of the fiber. Some of their ties with the denim giant, the complaint said, aren’t direct but through the use of intermediaries from countries such as India and Vietnam.
Levi’s has challenged the accuracy of the evidence supplied, saying that it has no commercial relationships with the five suppliers named in the complaint. Responding to the CORE during the initial assessment, it dismissed the allegations as based on “outdated and inaccurate data from 2017- 2019 that were included in reports published in 2020 and 2021.” It further blamed two of the allegations on “suppliers self-reporting” their connection with Levi’s for marketing purposes rather than based on “any facts or actual relationship.”
But Levi Strauss Canada did not make itself available for an initial assessment meeting, the CORE said. Nor did it provide information verifying its response to the allegations. Mediation between the company and the complainants, who claim that Levi’s has not “satisfactorily addressed” the alleged use of Uyghur forced labor at the earlier stages of its supply chain “beyond a reasonable doubt,” is also currently not an option.
“Considering the complex nature of garment supply chains and gaps in the information provided in the complaint, I have decided to launch an investigation,” Sheri Meyerhoffer, who has helmed the CORE since it was established by the Canadian government in 2019, said in a statement. “An investigation will allow us [to] review the facts independently.”
The jean purveyor told Sourcing Journal that it has “made it clear” to its suppliers that it cannot accept any materials, including cotton, produced using forced labor or managed by entities involved in forced labor. It continues to review on an ongoing basis whether any supplier, or their sub-suppliers or subsidiaries, are connected to forced labor or human trafficking, including through the use of traceability technologies.
“Levi Strauss & Co. is committed to human rights and labor rights wherever we operate,” a spokesperson said. “While there are factual inaccuracies in their assessment, we will continue to cooperate with [the] CORE as part of our ongoing commitment to human rights in our supply chain.”
