The Office of the Canadian Corporate Responsibility Ombudsman (OCRE) is launching an investigation into allegations of Uyghur forced labor in retailer Zara Canada Inc.’s supply chain.
This comes according to a report released today based on a complaint filed last year.
“The initial assessment report on Zara details allegations that the company has sourcing relationships with Chinese companies known to use or profit from forced Uyghur labor,” the ombudsman said in a press release on Monday.
The organization states that Zara completely denies the allegation and therefore considers the complaint inadmissible “because the allegations of human rights violations do not arise from its business activities.”
Zara claims to have “no business relationship with any factory in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region,” it said.
The Canadian Corporate Responsibility Ombudsman released its report on Zara on Monday. Canadian Corporate Responsibility Ombudsman
Uyghur forced labor
For their part, the plaintiffs claim that Zara actually has a supply relationship with three Chinese companies that are accused of “exploiting or profiting from the forced labor of Uyghurs,” as described by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and the Helena Kennedy Center for International Justice.
“Zara Canada Inc. has relationships or connections in its supply chain with Huafu Top Dyed Melange Yarn Co. Ltd., Shandong Zoucheng Guosheng and Xinjiang Zhongtai Group (collectively, the “Chinese Companies”), plaintiffs allege.”
-More details to come…