Explanatory notes to list of production locations accompanying the Agreement on a Sustainable Garment and Textile Sector
Improving the garment and textile supply chain requires a knowledge of where textile products and garments are produced. Parties to the Agreement on Sustainable Garments and Textiles (AGT) therefore agreed that participating businesses must make this information available on an annual basis. This resulted in a second aggregated production location list which has been published on July 4th, 2018.
The information that businesses have on their supply chain depends on how they procure their products. Some businesses own their own factories and thus have a very good understanding of the production chain. Most businesses, however, place orders with factories that they do not own themselves, or they make use of intermediaries (agents). As a rule, the more links in the supply chain, the more difficult it is to oversee the entire chain. One of the expectations of AGT signatories is that they develop a systematic approach to gain insight in their production locations.
Publication production location list
The parties to the AGT have agreed that the Secretariat will publish an annual, fully aggregated list of the production sites used by the participating businesses. It will increase transparency in the supply chain, which will enable and support dialogue and a collective approach to problems. Because the Secretariat knows the relationship between the production location and the AGT signatory, it can inform the relevant signatory immediately if it receives any reports of negative impacts or incidents and subsequently provide advice on how to address these issues. It can also involve other parties to the agreement if required and deemed appropriate. That makes the Secretariat a key point of contact for all stakeholders.
Mandatory information production location list
The Agreement Steering Committee has identified which information businesses are obliged to submit. Besides the information published (name, address, city, province, country), additional information is submitted to the AGT secretariat that is relevant for an effective due diligence process. Examples of such information include the production processes that take place at this location, and the number of employees in the factory.
On July 4th, 2019 the third aggregated production location list has been published (reference year 2018). In total, 5500 production locations have been submitted (compared to 4785 last year). The difference between the total and unique locations consists of overlap (around 10%) and unknown or relatable production locations. The latter category (around 60 production locations) refers to those locations that, on the basis of the information published, can be linked to specific signatories. A few of our signatories have so-called non-disclosure agreements with suppliers (dating from before the signing of the AGT), therefore these locations could not be published. When assessing the participating businesses’ action plans, the Secretariat will see to it that the relevant businesses alter their internal operational processes in ways that result in continuously improved supply chain insight.
Growth in the number of production locations on the list is mainly caused by the growth of the Agreement, but also by the fact that signatories have more insight in production locations deeper down the production chain.
Please note: The secretariat published the information as received (apart from some address corrections for example in case of overlapping suppliers). Please contact the AGT secretariat if you feel information is incorrect or incomplete.