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The Indian textile industry is one of the largest industries in the world, with a huge
raw material and textile manufacturing base. The industry occupies a unique
position as a self-reliant industry, from the production of raw materials to the
delivery of finished products. This large and ancient industry has carved out a
special niche for itself as a facilitator of the countys economic growth and
participative development.
Textile industry in India is a highly versatile sector, with smaller firms providing
flexibility needed for smaller orders; the larger firms have the capacity to service the
worlds biggest buyers. The Government of India has also undertaken several
favourable policy initiatives, which have resulted in the growth of the sector. Indian
textile industry contributes about 14 per cent to industrial production, 4 per cent to
the countrys gross domestic product (GDP) and 16.63 per cent to export earnings,
as per Ministry of Commerce and Trade, India.
With DISHA in progress, India is well placed to emerge as one of the most
compliant sourcing destinations amongst the developing nations and able to meet
all the compliance challenges. Under the programme, the units would be
encouraged to adopt improved production systems and workers productivity. The
important focus of DISHA is issue of certification which certifies that the industry is
complied with all social compliances as per international standards. Some of the
compliances in the industry are:
Prohibition of child/forced labour
Non-discrimination
Proper working environment
Proper wages and working hours
Step taken by AEPC to promote garment exports
Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) as part of its export promotion plan, for
the first time, is organising Buyer-Seller Meet at New York, USA during January
2013. The initiative will provide an opportunity for international buyers to meet with
selected top exporters of India, who will be showcasing their collection of womens
wear, mens wear, children wear and fashion accessories. These exporters are fully
compliant with the global quality standards and have world-class production
infrastructure.
Social Compliance
Social compliance refers to how a business treats its employees, the environment
and their perspective on social responsibility. It refers to a minimal code of conduct
that directs how employees are treated with regards to wages, working hours and
work conditions. To ensure that the company meets standards of various
environmental laws, it may be necessary to conduct a compliance audit.
Compliance Audit
Audits and assessments provide vital management control for Process Safety
Management, Process Security Management, and Risk Management Programs.
Audits focus on the policies and procedures to verify compliance with regulatory
requirements and industry standards. They help to ensure programs are properly
designed and implemented. Further, audits also identify program deficiencies so
that recommendations can be developed for corrective action.
Phases of Audit
There are three main phases of compliance audit in India:
Pre-audit: It includes planning and organising the audit; establishing the
audit objectives, scope and etiquette; and reviewing the design of the
program by inspecting documentation
On-site audit: It includes conducting personnel interviews, reviewing
records, and making observations to assess program implementation
Post-audit: It includes briefing the management on audit findings, and
preparing a final report
Therefore, Indian apparel manufacturers need to follow Government guidelines,
and social compliance standards not only within their sphere of operations, but also
insist their vendors, distributors, and other collaborators involved in the supply
chain to do the same.
This common compliance code will not only give the opportunity for the industry to
negate international claims against child labour promotion in the garment industry,
but will also help to improve the image of the industry and win more international
businesses, as per Premal Udani, Chairman, Apparel Export Promotion Council
(AEPC).
AEPC-Disha
Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), the apex body of Indian apparel
exporters, has launched the programme DISHA (Driving Industry towards
Sustainable Human Capital Advancement) to aid garment exporters comply with
global standards pertaining to child labour.
The programme will encourage members to follow better social practices, which will
give them a competitive edge in the global market where industrial compliance
code is increasingly becoming an important factor in buying decision.
The Indian garment industry is well established and enjoying considerable demand
in both domestic as well as global markets. Further, the increased pressure from
international apparel buyers to comply with labour standards and workers rights in
Indian garment factories has led to a vast number of labels and code of conduct
policies entering the markets.
Just like the firms in other industries, garment firms also have social responsibility
associated with employees and the environment. Social responsibility in the global
apparel industry provides an in-depth examination of labour practices and
standards. However, the ways by which different organisations choose to fulfill their
social responsibility might be different. A garment factory can fulfill its social
responsibility in the following manner:
By providing a competitive and challenging work environment to the
employees
By having ethical recruitment, remuneration, promotion and other policies
By providing opportunities to the employees to voice their opinion and
complaints and have an effective policy for the solution of these complaints
Ensuring a safe working environment for the employees
Ensuring not to adopt child or forced labour in the industry
Having fair policies for the solution of employee disputes
Apparel Export Promotion Council
The Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) would like to reiterate that the
Indian garment industry is deeply engaged in ensuring industrial compliance with
the law and that its efforts encompass the informal sector, including home workers,
and facilities serving solely the domestic market, stated Dr. A Sakthivel, Chairman,
AEPC. The AEPC therefore, respectfully urges to make clear in its reports and lists
that the garment export sector in India is not marked by child labour or forced
labour and there have been significant increase in initiatives at the government,
industry and NGO levels to improve awareness among the informal sector and
those serving the domestic market achieve the policies and compliance for which
the export sector is rightly recognised, said the Chairman.
The Indian apparel industry is working with an objective of reaching 7.5 billion by
the end of 2012, a figure that is almost double the size of the last profit calculated
by the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC).
The code of ethics is all about the quality of the products from the factory and the
working environment that should meet the requirements of audits and inspections.
An individual running an export business needs to follow these ethics sincerely.
These ethics are required for:
Increasing national competitiveness in terms of social compliance
Increasing competitiveness of small scale manufacturers
Reducing burden on manufacturers
Some of the compliance codes in Indian garment industry are listed below.
The Apparel Export Promotion Council of India (AEPC), an apex body of Indian
apparel exporters, provides all social compliance services to meet international
global standards. The council also trains and guides factories to upgrade the
workplace conditions and labour standards.
Garment factory should consider the following guidelines while complying with
safety and health compliance codestandards:
Industries should comply with international standard code, such as ISO or
importing countries standard code to become competitive in international
markets
Young persons (between 15 to 18 years) are not supposed to work on any
dangerous machine without adequate training and supervision
Wiring should be in good condition with no broken junctions or wires sticking
out at the ends of the conduit
Eye wear and face shields should be provided in areas with danger of flying
objects, sparks, glare, hazardous liquids and excessive dust
Ear plugs or muffs should be given in places with excessive noise such as
generator rooms and embroidery rooms
Hard hats and protective shoes are necessary for workers involved in loading
and unloading operations
Factories should have effective fire extinguisher with proper usage
instructions
Role of Apparel Export Promotion Council in India
Further, the council has designed a garment factory compliance program Disha
(Driving Industry towards Sustainable Human Capital Advancement) that aims to
spread awareness regarding the importance of compliance among garment
exporters.
With the growing efforts of media, buyers in the US and the EU have increasingly
become very conscious towards global standards particularly related to women and
children. Therefore, Indian manufacturers need to provide customers with ethically
manufactured products in order to survive in the international markets.
The apparel export promotion council of India (AEPC), an apex body of Indian
apparel exporters under the textiles ministry is helping domestic textile industry to
adhere to global norms through development and implementation of tools to help
factories certify, monitor and improve universal standards.
Further, the council has designed a garment factory compliance program Disha
(Driving Industry towards Sustainable Human Capital Advancement) that aims to
spread awareness regarding the importance of social compliance amongst textile
exporters. The programme will encourage members to follow better social
practices, which will give them a competitive edge in the international market where
social compliance is gradually becoming an important buying decision.
We will develop intensive training on legal requirements on core issues like child
labor, trafficked labor, wages amongst others and enable accreditation by
international agencies like the International Labor Organization to ensure global
acceptance of the program, as per Lakshmi Bhatia, Director, Free Labor
Association.
Compliance auditing has become an important task to ensure if the company meets
standards of various environmental laws. It is needed to check the welfare of the
people working within the boundaries of the garment factory if they are getting
wages at the right time, check on working hours and health and safety of the work
force.
CSR has come into public awareness more recently as result of globalisation,
advancement in communication technology, media coverage and ethical
investment opportunities. It is already established in a global context with various
international standards set by the United Nations. Some of the international
organisations that provide CSR standards for Multi-national corporations are
following:
International Labour Organization (ILO)
UN Global Compact
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)
In Indian apparel industry, the role of corporate social responsibility has been a
topic of increasing concern for at least a decade. India is a sourcing destination for
many international brands for garment products. As the export of garment products
from India has increased, the demand for corporate social compliancehas also
risen. CSR activities in Indian garment industry include the following:
Fair remuneration
Proper working conditions
Training and staff development
Equal opportunities and diversity
Employee participation in business decisions
No child or bonded labour
Freedom of association
Benefits of CSR/ Business Compliance
When business complianceis taken into consideration, it gives immense benefits
to both employees and the organisation. CSR can positively influence enterprise
competitiveness in many ways such as:
Cost savings and increased profitability due to a more efficient deployment of
human and production resources
Improved products / production processes result in better customer
satisfaction
Higher motivation and loyalty of employees
Enhanced corporate or brand reputation, image and value
Improved culture within the organisation
Enhanced word-of-the-mouth communication
Increased turnover due to competitive advantage
Better access to public funds due to a better corporate image
Enterprises undertake business compliance, not necessarily out of a need to act
generously, but more so for survival in a globally competitive and legally complex
modern environment. The Indian garment industry needs to be tough on
compliance rather than competing with other developing countries manufacturing
inexpensive garments. Every export business needs an adequate understanding of
the compliance guidelines for the foreign trade.
The Apparel Export Promotion Council of India (AEPC), the apex industrial body
that promotes apparel exports, aims at making India the global benchmark for
corporate social compliance in apparel manufacturing and export. With this
objective, the Council has embarked on a project - Driving the Industry towards
Sustainable Human Capital Advancement (Disha). This programme will encourage
members to follow better social practices, which will give them a competitive edge
in the global market.
Some of the common Indian Garment industry compliance code guidelines are:
Exporters must not be involved in unfair labour practices including but not
limited to interferences in matters concerning freedom of association
There shall be no differences in workers remuneration for work of equal value
on the basis of gender, race, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation,
nationality, political opinion, or social or ethnic origin
Exporters shall not threaten female workers with dismissal or any other
employment decision that negatively affects their employment status in order
to prevent them from getting married or becoming pregnant
Exporters shall ensure that proper ventilation systems are installed within
their premises to prevent airborne exposures which may affect the health of
workers
Members shall not use any form of physical or psychological violence,
threats, harassment, or abuse against workers seeking to form organisations
or participating in union activities, including strikes
Workers shall be entitled to at least 24 consecutive hours of rest in every
seven-day period. If workers must work on a rest day, an alternative
consecutive 24 hours rest day must be provided
Exporters shall provide workers with paid annual leaves as required under
local laws, regulations and procedures. Exporters shall not impose any undue
restrictions on workers use of annual leave or taking any type of sick or
maternity leave
Exporters shall pay workers at least the legal minimum wage or the prevailing
industry wage, whichever is higher. In todays scenario, it is the most
essential code of compliance for Indian Industry
Exporters shall compensate workers for all hours worked. Workers on a piece
rate payment scheme or any other incentive scheme should be paid
accordingly
Exporters shall not unreasonably restrain the freedom of movement of
workers, including movement in canteen during breaks, using toilets,
accessing water, or to access necessary medical attention, as a means to
maintain work discipline
Garment exporters must ensure that the minimum age requirement to non-
hazardous employment shall not be less than 14 years. This is the most
important concern in India nowadays. Further, each worker has the right to
enter into and to terminate their employment freely
Indian apparel makers need to follow all the compliance guidelines to comply with
global standards. Often companies adopt industry compliance codes to project a
positive image and protect their goodwill in the market. The Indian garment industry
needs to be strong on compliance rather than competing with other developing
countries