Matalan then addresses how they dealt with cotton coming from the Xinjiang Uyghur Region in China; and Migrant workers in Turkey, as examples.
Matalan identifies cotton from the Xinjiang Uyghur Region in China and migrant workers in Turkey as two populations at risk for modern slavery. They described how they changed their business conduct to support these groups and maintain commitment to their ethical policies.
Pg 6-7:
" We have identified the following issues and outlined our steps taken to prevent and address these risks.
Cotton in Xinjiang Uyghur Region, China
In October 2020 BCI took the decision to cease all field level activities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China. We support this decision and continue to increase the percentage of BCI cotton in oursourcing. Matalan is in Year 1 (as of 2020) of a three-year sustainable cotton roadmap. Our target is that by 2023 all our cotton-based products will be BCI Cotton, which we believe is a more sustainable and ethical source for this key fibre. We are currently approximately 20% of the way towards our target of 100% more sustainable cotton. In addition, we have a limited amount of Egyptian cotton in our supply chain. For all suppliers who are not currently using BCI cotton, we have actioned an enhanced compliance requirement, via our B2B website (Appendix 6), requiring all suppliers to ensure they are not sourcing raw materials or products from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, and we have received confirmation that for 100% of suppliers this is the case. These will be reconfirmed every 6 months.
Migrant workers in Turkey
In 2017/18 the Matalan Ethical Team conducted unannounced audits in all of our Turkey Suppliers and their factories to ensure there were no illegal or underage workers being employed. The visits provided insights to the problems of Syrian workers being employed illegally in Turkey. At the time of the visits, it was established that no Syrian workers were employed by any of our Suppliers illegally. However, we did find historical evidence that 2 factories had originally employed illegal Syrian workers but had subsequently paid all the monies owed to those workers. This evidence was verified by conducting worker interviews and through 3rd party independent verification audits.
Unannounced audits in UK Supply Chains
The Matalan Ethical Team unannounced audit program has been expanded in 2020 to cover all UK Suppliers and their factories in order to clearly demonstrate Matalan’s intention to tackle modern day slavery and human trafficking & ensure no illegal or underage workers being employed"