| 100% Cotton Made In The Peoples Republic Of China |
Goods of every kind, from every corner of the world, can now be found in just about every retail store. Their availability testifies to the benefits of open trade to the world's economy, and to the world's consumers. As new, labour-intensive industries spring up in nations around the world, the income they earn permits these countries to purchase capital-intensive goods produced in more developed countries — countries such as Canada. In short, the benefits of increased trade flow in both directions. Canadian retailers are pleased to offer the best quality products from around the globe at reasonable prices. They know that is what Canadians want. But they also know that Canadians are a fair-minded people, not prepared to buy so-called sweatshop goods — goods made under inhumane working conditions.
That is why many Canadian retailers have developed their own ethical guidelines for their suppliers worldwide. And that is why Retail Council of Canada, working with its member-organizations, has developed its Responsible Trading Guidelines ("RTG"), which it is now sharing with all Canadian retailers. These comprehensive guidelines represent our commitment to selling products that are made under humane working conditions. |
| Goal:
The goal of Retail Council of Canada is to see Canadian retailers adopt these guidelines on a voluntary basis, and implement them according to their business needs and practices.
We believe that in doing so we can do our part in ending the sorts of conditions to which too many workers around the world must submit — conditions that include verbal and physical abuse, demands for sexual favours, forced labour and child labour. |
| A. Scope |
| The RTG shall apply only to finished consumer goods purchased for resale to consumers.
Retailers that adopt the RTG shall use reasonable efforts to require their suppliers to comply with the
guidelines. Those suppliers shall likewise use reasonable efforts to require their contractors to include the guidelines in their contracts for the purchase of goods and services forming a direct component of
finished consumer goods. Retailers that adopt the RTG may limit its application to certain goods made or sold by the retailer or to activities of any designated part of the retailer, provided the limitation is indicated by the company. |
| B. Definition |
| Supplier means any natural or legal person from whom a Canadian retailer directly purchases finished consumer goods for resale to Canadian consumers. Contractor means any natural or legal person that provides the supplier with goods or services directly used in the production of finished consumer goods purchased by the retailer. |
| C. Guidelines |
| Laws and Workplace Regulations The laws and regulations of the countries where goods are made shall be complied with. |
| Forced Labour Forced labour shall not be used, whether in the form of prison labour, indentured labour, bonded labour or otherwise. |
| Child Labour No person shall be employed under the age of 14, or under the age interfering with compulsory schooling, or under the minimum age established by law, whichever is greater. |
| Harassment or Abuse Corporal punishment and other forms of coercion, abuse or harassment, whether psychological, sexual or physical, shall be prohibited. |
| Discrimination Discrimination in hiring or any other terms or conditions of work, other than bona fide occupational requirements allowed by law, based on race, colour, national origin, religion, disability, gender, sexual orientation, marital status or political opinion, shall be prohibited. |
| Freedom of Association Employees shall be permitted to exercise lawful rights of free association. |
| Hours of Work The laws on working hours of the countries where goods are made shall be complied with and employees shall be entitled to at least one day off in every seven-day period, except as required to meet urgent business needs. |
| <Health and Safety Conditions in all work and residential facilities shall be safe, clean and consistent with all applicable laws and regulations regarding safety and health. |
| Wages and Benefits Employees shall be paid the higher of the minimum wage required by the laws of the countries where goods are made or the prevailing local industry wage and shall be entitled to all legally mandated benefits. Deductions from wages, not provided for by the laws of the countries where goods are made, shall not be permitted without the express permission of the employee. |
| D. Principles of Implementation |
| The RTG shall form part of any agreement the retailer enters into with its suppliers. The retailer shall evaluate its suppliers by assessing their observance of the RTG. The retailer shall assign responsibility for the implementation of the RTG to a responsible member of management.
Employees to whom the RTG applies shall be informed of it through the posting of the code in a
prominent place in the local languages spoken by the employees and managers. |
Application
How do the RTG work? First of all, they apply only to finished consumer goods purchased for resale to consumers. Goods such as that 100% cotton shirt purchased by a retailer in Canada and then sold by
that retailer in a Canadian store.
The RTG ask retailers to use reasonable efforts to require their suppliers to provide decent, legal and humane working conditions at the manufacturing stage. Those suppliers are also asked to use reasonable efforts to require their contractors to include these guidelines in their contracts.
At the same time, a retailer who adopts these guidelines may limit their application to certain goods made or sold by the retailer, as long as the retailer publicly acknowledges that limitation. The fact is, the member-companies of Retail Council of Canada vary widely. Many are relatively small operators, selling a narrow product line in perhaps a handful of stores. Others are national and international merchandisers with literally thousands of products sold in hundreds of stores. But whether big or small, the merchandise they sell comes from all over the world.
Given that fact, it is clear that a single approach to the problem is not practicable. Hence, these guidelines, which we believe can serve every retailer interested in promoting decent, legal and humane working conditions.
Implementation
We recognize that whatever we aim to achieve, we cannot do it on our own. Only governments can set and enforce labour laws, and only international agencies such as the United Nation's International Labour Organization can directly encourage governments to adopt its conventions and recommendations on the sorts of labour standards we support. Besides, private companies do not have the resources or expertise that governments possess in enforcing laws. Neither do they possess subpoena and investigatory powers; nor can they impose civil and criminal penalties on violators of labour standards.
Nevertheless, to promote the implementation of these guidelines, retailers who adopt these guidelines have been asked to commit to five principles of implementation.
Retail Council of Canada urges all Canadian retailers to join its member organizations in adopting the RTG.