Gymboree's Response to my letter regarding ethical manufacturing processes May 2013

Hello Sarah,

Thank you for your email.
I apologize for the delay in response as we have experienced an increase in volume of emails during our recent promotion.
At Gymboree, we pride ourselves on the high quality of our products and children are our number one concern when manufacturing our items. We want to assure you that all items meet or exceed the government regulations for children’s clothing. Like many companies in the garment industry, Gymboree is a design and distribution company and does not own or operate any production facilities. In order to manufacture our products, Gymboree utilizes various garment production facilities throughout the world. As we research prospective factories and vendors, Gymboree strives to select companies that make compliance with laws and labor standards a top priority and whose policies and practices are consistent with our corporate mission to celebrate childhood.

Prior to engaging any factory or vendor to supply, manufacture or finish our products, we inform the company of Gymboree’s terms of engagement (the “Terms”) which set forth the standards and ethical requirements that all factories and vendors must comply with in order to conduct business with Gymboree. As a condition of doing business with Gymboree, we require that each vendor sign a product purchase agreement as a commitment that they will adhere to our Terms. Specifically, our Terms require, among other things, full compliance with all applicable laws and regulations pertaining, but not limited to, working age, voluntary labor, equal treatment, wages, working hours, fair treatment, safe places to work and concern for the environment. All factories and vendors must also certify, among other things, that goods will not be produced with any use of child, forced, or prison labor, and that all employees will be provided with safe, clean working conditions. We prohibit the use of cotton sourced from Uzbekistan and textiles produced using Uzbekistan cotton because of Uzbekistan's history of forced child labor and we prohibit manufacturing processes such as “sandblasting” that adversely affect the health of workers. Additionally, for many years now, Gymboree has used reputable, independent auditing firms to evaluate factories and to routinely perform unannounced on-site inspections in order to actively monitor and assess factory operations to ensure compliance. If Gymboree determines that any factory or vendor has violated our Terms or any applicable laws or regulations, we will either immediately terminate the business relationship or require the factory or vendor to implement a corrective action plan to remedy the infraction. If corrective action is advised but not taken, Gymboree will suspend placement of future orders and may terminate current production.

We take pride in our ongoing efforts and the progress we have made in assisting our factories and vendors to improve their production practices and working conditions. We believe that our standards have a positive impact on the garment industry and on those who seek to do business with us.

Thank you again for taking the time to contact us and for giving us the opportunity to provide you with information regarding Gymboree’s production standards and practices. More information about our Social Accountability program can be found on our website.
If you have any additional questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely,

Elizabeth
Gymboree Customer Service
877 449 6932
www.gymboree.com


permission being sought for publication - sarah.

Comments

  1. Hi Sarah: You sound like a mom who worries about the same things I do -- can you help spread the word about my petition, urging Gymboree to sign the Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Accord? http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/gymboree-step-up-to-stop

    ReplyDelete
  2. Looks very informative... We can also utilize ethical manufacturing for making baby clothes. These clothes gives much better comfort then polyester fabricated clothing.

    ReplyDelete

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