The retailer has signed the document as part of its relaunched Plan A sustainability scheme
M&S is among the first UK retailers to sign a call to action urging fellow brands to address human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang region.
The retailer said it had signed the document as part of its long-term focus on ensuring its supply chains were sustainable and ethical, and to encourage fellow retailers to examine their own supply chains. It was also striving to ensure workers are treated fairly and human rights are respected across its supply chain, it said.
M&S sources its cotton through businesses that are accredited with the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), a not-for-profit organisation that focuses on sustainable production. The BCI suspended its activities in Xinjiang in March 2020, and as a result, there is no new licensed BCI cotton coming from the region or used in any M&S products. Nevertheless, the retailer emphasised it wanted to sign the call to action to encourage oth
UK’s Marks and Spencer to ban Xinjiang cotton over China s alleged abuses on Uighur Friday, January 8, 2021 5:28 AM UTC
British supermarket chain Marks and Spencer (M&S) will ban the use of cotton from the Xinjiang region in protest of China s alleged treatment of its Muslim Uighur minority.
M&S said it is one of the first companies that signed the call to action on human rights abuses and among the few retailers that do not work with any supplier or source from Xinjiang.
According to M&S, their move supports efforts to ensure fair treatment of workers and that human rights are respected.
Britain s M&S backs call to stop forced labour in China s Xinjiang 07 Jan 2021 / 01:29 H.
By Kieran Guilbert
LONDON, Jan 6 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - British retailer Marks & Spencer on Wednesday became one of the first major brands to back a drive to stop forced labour in cotton and garment sourcing from China s Xinjiang region.
M&S signed a call to action by The Coalition to End Forced Labour in the Uyghur Region - consisting of more than 300 civil society groups - to cut ties with suppliers in China that profit from the forced labour of the ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims.