The truth of the matter is that there is no regulatory body and therefore no set of legal rules
Many countries are happy to ignore blatant examples of terrible working conditions, even some who have laws against such practises. Corruption is endemic in many places around the globe and not just in underdeveloped nations, ethical trading is not confined to the factories and sweatshops, there is as much of it going on in the boardrooms and offices as there is on the factory floor.
A company that decides to pay a bribe to win a contract is as unethical as the workshop owner who employs child labour. In general it is fair to say that the more developed a nation is, the more likely it is that their standards in relation to working practices will be higher. Although it is certainly not unheard of for stories to appear from some very developed nations in relation to poor working conditions. The degree of ethics is also in question. Is it fair to impose the rules and regulations of developed nations onto those countries who cannot ever hope to attain the standards and wealth that other countries enjoy?
In the 1990′s a story broke regarding the manufacture of leather footballs in India where young children were found to be stitching footballs in their village homes. The world’s press descended upon the region and within days all production had stopped with orders cancelled and manufacturers shut down. Whilst all the developing nations went home patting themselves on the back for doing such a great job the families whose entire livelihood depended upon this work began to starve. Even today some 10 years after this event there are still stories in the press relating to the same products in the same regions. This perfectly demonstrates the need for co ordinated action to be taken to help factory and farm owners in assisting them towards improving the conditions under which workers carry out their duties rather than depriving them of an income.
Currently there are not many good sources of information relating to Ethical trading. Some city companies offer Ethical Investment Funds and the Economic & Social Research Society have been awarded funds to investigate the subject of ethical trading. The Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI)is one of the very few good sources of information for those who want to learn about trading ethically.
Francis Murphy is the Managing Director of which was established in 1977 and are the only Promotional Merchandise company to be members of both the Ethical Trading Initiative and SEDEX the Supplier Ethical Data Exchange. To view a range of ethically sourced Promotional Clothing Article Source:
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