News
9th April 2018
A tale of two South Asian scandals
During April 2018, two five-year old clothing industry scandals involving corrupt South Asian governments played themselves out. In Bangladesh, a campaign to identify and punish the murderers of clothing union...
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3rd April 2018
Bangladesh Alliance future begins to firm up
Bangladesh Alliance executive director Jim Moriarty said in late March that 88% of factory remediation is complete, with 84% of items most critical to life safety covered. 322 affiliated factories have...
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1st April 2018
Top 20 clothing exporters remain unchanged as world clothing trade falls
The volume of the $255 bn worth of clothing (measured in numbers of garments) imported in 2017 into the key developed countries (Japan, the US and EU - JUSEU) fell...
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21st March 2018
Bangladesh crosses first hurdle for leaving “Least Developed Nation” category
On March 15, the UN's Committee for Development Policy announced that Bangladesh had met all three criteria for graduating from the group of least-developed countries (LDC). The achievement - probably...
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1st March 2018
Changing Markets Foundation aims at Aditya Birla
"Certification is getting in the way of preventing carcinogenic pollution" says a report that builds on similar concerns a year ago The story is getting more complicated
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2nd February 2018
Losses at Amazon’s non-US retail almost treble to $3.1 billion
Losses in the Amazon retail business outside North America soared in 2017 to $3.1 billion - possibly the largest retail loss ever recorded. Sales and income ($bn) have been: The...
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13th December 2017
Brexit disappearance marks apparel’s need of Next New Big Thing
A joint statement from UK and EU negotiators on the progress of the Brexit talks in early December said the United Kingdom will maintain full alignment with rules of the...
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15th June 2017
“Viscose pollution is devastating parts of India, China and Indonesia”
...and just 11 companies control 75% of the viscose that goes into the world's clothes, says the Changing Markets Foundation
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24th May 2017
EU announces Brexit talks to start around June 19 as UK threatens walk-out
The EU's General Affairs Council agreed its timetable and directives for Britain's exit negotiations on May 22, as the major UK and EU negotiators appeared to take strongly conflicting positions...
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24th May 2017
EU adds Sri Lanka to its duty-free GSP+ programme
The European Union has reinstated Sri Lanka to its GSP+ programme, a special arrangement under the Generalized Scheme of Preferences aimed at encouraging sustainable development and good governance. As from May...
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22nd May 2017
11 Pacific nations decide to salvage TPP – but no firm timetable
Japan and other members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreed on May 21 to pursue their trade deal - but were vague on the detail of what "pursue" meant.A planned meeting...
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19th May 2017
US formally starts NAFTA renegotiation process
US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on May 17 formally notified Congress of the administration’s intention to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. The notification allows negotiations...
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