Reference no: EM133420256

Case Study: Few would think that the United States would permit the import of goods made by forced, prison, or indentured labor. Yet for decades, since the 1930s, this has been permitted by American law in cases where there was sufficient "consumptive demand" in the United States and if these goods were in short supply. The U.S. Department of Labor (Bureau of International Labor Affairs) is required by law to monitor, combat and maintain a list of products made by forced labor, and some of this information is available in an online searchable database. Examples are indentured children locked in garment factories in South America, children sold into bonded labor to produce dried fish products in the Pacific Rim, children confined and forced to mine for gold in Africa, children making toys after being put into "work study" programs by corrupt teachers in Asia. Some reports are of military personnel and civilian conflicts used to produce unfairly low-priced products for export. It was not until the passage of the Trade Enforcement and Facilitation Act of 2015 that the "consumptive demand" exception was removed and the United States began greater policing and enforcement of the law.

Question: Your firm designs and sells branded clothing and apparel worldwide. It relies on contract manufacturing by suppliers for cutting, sewing, and assembling finished goods through an established supply chain. You are asked by your firm's CEO to prepare a corporate ethics statement on procurement of goods or materials produced by forced, prison, or indentured labor. What would you include in that statement?