Fashion brands and retailers will continue to be tripped up by laws targeting forced labour in supply chains until they advocate for the scaling of solutions that tackle the issue.

The complexity of importing cotton-made clothing into the US just stepped up a notch after the Department of Homeland Security added another 26 Chinese suppliers to its Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List.

It means there are now 65 entities whose goods are blocked from being imported into the US market under the UFLPA.

What makes it so challenging is while US brands and retailers have been making concerted efforts to shift their supply bases away from China, the DHS is on the lookout for finished goods coming from any location that is suspected of containing inputs from blacklisted suppliers.

The bugbear is, of course, cotton coming from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region that has for some time now been linked to concerns over forced labour.

But at least 76% of Chinese cotton products contain Xinjiang cotton. The region accounts for about a fifth (20%) of the world’s cotton production. Against that backdrop the chances that the average consumer has some percentage of Xinjiang cotton in their wardrobe, is pretty high, particularly since much of the cotton is mixed and then exported to other regions before finished garments are then shipped into the US.

So while US clothing brands and retailers may think they are purchasing a batch of t-shirts from supplier A in Pakistan, the real issue is where supplier A was getting their cotton fabric from. And where was the cotton fabric supplier getting their cotton fibre from? Until now, ignorance has been bliss. But under the DHS’s latest crackdown, this approach could be costly for fashion sellers, in terms of time, money and reputation.

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Brands have to be significantly more aware of what is going on at every stage of their supply chains, right down to the point of fibre sourcing.

It is why the launch of platforms designed to boost supply chain visibility – such as Supply Trace which launched earlier this month – are likely to come as welcome news.

The free-to-use tool shows brands, via detailed graphics, where the forced labour risks in their supply chains lie and offers a solution to allow them to be addressed.

The platform’s lead developer told Just Style, in an interview, until now brands have been made aware they need to crack down on forced labour in their supply chains but haven’t necessarily had the tools at their disposal to be able to do so. With increased visibility thanks to machine learning, the problem of forced labour – which the ILO says stood at 27.6m in 2021 or equivalent to 3.5 people per 100 – can finally be addressed.

Whether it is enough to tackle the problem or whether it is the end solution is something that remains to be seen. What is clear is the tools are coming, and they are coming through thick and fast. With technology like machine learning, they will continue to improve and are likely to become a reliable third eye for supply chain leaders of fashion firms. But ultimately brands and retailers have to not only embrace these tools but advocate for their improvement, development and scaling.

For that to happen, collaborative action and acceptance at all levels, by all stakeholders is essential.

It is the only way to shift the needle and move closer to the goal of a responsible global fashion industry.

By Just Style