(Ottawa) What do Ralph Lauren Canada, Nike Canada, Dynasty Gold Corp., Walmart Canada, and now Levi Strauss & Co. Canada have in common? Answer: These companies are all suspected of using forced labor of Uyghurs in Xinjiang.
The Canadian Ombudsman for Corporate Responsibility (CORE) announced Wednesday that Levi Strauss & Co. Canada’s cotton supply chains would be investigated to shed light on these allegations.
The clothing maker known for its jeans and denim jackets joins a growing list of companies facing such suspicions – this is the seventh investigation launched by ombudsman Sherry Meyerhoffer.
“The allegations made by the complainants raise serious questions about a possible infringement of an internationally recognized human right, namely the right to be free from forced labor,” she writes in its initial assessment report.
According to the 28 civil society organizations that filed the complaint, Levi Strauss & Co. Canada maintains commercial relations with the Chinese company Jiangsu Guotai Guosheng, identified as using forced labor of Uyghurs.
“It seems that an investigation is necessary in the circumstances,” concludes Sherry Meyerhoffer. In several places in the report, she notes the company’s lack of collaboration in examining the complaint.
Because even if it denies the allegations, it has not “provided details as to the nature and scope of its obligation of due diligence”, in particular on “the possible use of fiber traceability technology “, she reproaches.
A complex issue
Cutting ties with Chinese suppliers who violate human rights is not as simple as it seems, explains Professor Ari Van Assche, specialist in Chinese economics at HEC Montréal. “It’s not easy at all,” he says.
“We are talking about companies which employ a supplier, which employ a supplier, which employ a supplier. Often, forced labor activities are hidden; “it’s therefore difficult to know if the cotton comes from this or that supplier,” he explains in an interview.
And the OCRE, created in 2019, does not have powers to discipline companies that turn a blind eye, intentionally or not, to these practices – the federal agency can cut off the tap of federal aid, but it cannot impose fines.
We are far from the strong measures that have been put in place in the United States. There, under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Actborder agents can block Xinjiang goods made from forced labor.
“It is up to companies to demonstrate that there is no forced labor. In other words, they are guilty until they prove their innocence,” summarizes Professor Van Assche.
PHOTO PATRICK T. FALLON, BLOOMBERG ARCHIVES
In a reaction sent by email, Levi Strauss & Co ensures that it has “made it clear to everyone [ses] suppliers” that it does not accept “any materials, including cotton, produced by forced labor or managed by entities involved in forced labor.”
The company argues that there are “factual inaccuracies” in the report released Wednesday by the OCRE, but it signals that it will “continue to cooperate” with the federal agency.
A “huge lie”, according to Beijing
The Chinese regime has repeatedly denied the existence of forced labor camps in Xinjiang. “Huge lie”, “political manipulation”, “attempt to denigrate China’s prosperity”, raged a spokesperson for the Beijing embassy in Ottawa last May.
Don’t go to Xinjiang who wants; so the investigation promises to be difficult, we concede to the OCRE. The ombudsman will therefore seek “the help of investigators specialized in research and analysis of publicly accessible data,” the report states.
“We welcome the initiative of the ombudsman, who has increased his investigations in recent weeks, after years of silence,” comments MP Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay. That said, without “more teeth”, the OCRE will not be able to “completely complete its investigations”, he adds.
The Conservative Party and the NDP did not provide a reaction to the opening of this investigation, nor did the office of the Minister of International Trade, Mary Ng.