VAUDE has a longstanding partner with whom we have made a number of your VAUDE products in Myanmar. This is in a production facility owned by a Taiwanese partner that we have been working closely with for many years.
In addition, since 2019 we have been working with another Taiwanese partner which manufactures our products in two of its production facilities in Myanmar.
We are aware of the risks that production in Myanmar brings with it and put considerable effort into ensuring that the production facilities meet our high standards. One example is a training project that we implemented in Myanmar that won honors from Fair Wear.
We have full transparency throughout the production facilities and are familiar with the working conditions there. Our partners are also strongly committed to improving working conditions and see it as part of their responsibility towards their employees.
Our partner had already started production in Myanmar in 1999 – at the time mainly for the American market. After the USA embargo in 2003, many of our partner’s customers canceled their orders so the producer asked us whether we could move some production to Myanmar. Due to the embargo, our partner’s Myanmar production site was facing closure and badly needed new customers. In order to maintain jobs there, VAUDE decided to expand its production to Myanmar in 2003. Since then, we have manufactured a small selection of products in this factory.
We condemn the military coup of February 1, 2021 and support the people in their peaceful protest against the arrests of the de-facto head of government Aung San Suu Kyi and other leading politicians. The military violence against the people must end and all political prisoners must be released. You can read more about this here.
We are in close contact with our partners and are receiving regular updates on the local situation. The textile industry is an important economic sector in Myanmar, which secures the income of many families. In order to preserve these jobs, we are committed to Myanmar as a production location during the current crisis.
Directly after the coup in 2021, VAUDE's management decided to remain in Myanmar, but not to expand in terms of volume, enter into new business relationships with new producers or to expand with existing producers.
We also have a very comprehensive risk analysis for all OECD sector risks.
Our HRDD process is in line with OECD due diligence guidelines. We have a very comprehensive risk analysis that assesses risks at both the country level and the factory level.
We think that it's good that Fair Wear sets stricter requirements for production in Myanmar. Despite the fact that Myanmar has made some progress with civil and political rights, it still counts as a high-risk country because there is a good chance that labor standards won't be met. In addition, the annual Fair Wear Brand Performance Check (BPC) monitors us to ensure that we are meeting all requirements and fulfilling our responsibilities.
You can find the Fair Wear's detailed regulations and statementon production in Myanmar here
Our production sites in Myanmar (just like the majority of our other facilities) are audited by Fair Wear every 3 years. If deviations are discovered during the audit, these are recorded in a corrective action plan (CAP).
Our CSR employees don’t just check on the progress made, but work together with the producers, offering them expert advice for implementing the measures. These CSR employees visit the production facility several times per year.
We are very proud that our producer was awarded the Social Compliance Excellence from the Textile Industry Association in Myanmar (MGMA) in 2016.
For this reason we have cooperated with SMART Myanmar for several years. SMART is a European Union project with the goal of promoting sustainable textile production in the country. Our producer has participated in the SMART Compliance Academy. Within the framework of this 6-month training, the fundamentals of a sustainable management system are taught in workshops and factory visits, and the system is then put into practice. In addition, our producer took part in additional training in the areas of personnel management and intercultural communication.
A training course on good communication at the workplace and dialogue with management was conducted in 2019 at one production facility in Myanmar. The training included the following issues:
In the course of the audit and as a result of numerous complaints, we found that employees have no confidence in the facility’s internal dialogue structures. For this reason, we worked together with SMART Myanmar to set up a training course for this producer that lasted several months and will be continued this year.
Together with the Jack Wolfskin and Salewa brands, we conducted a training project in Myanmar that was awarded with the Best Practice Award by Fair Wear in 2016. Read more here
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