There is a growing awareness among many of the largest U.S. apparel importers about the conditions under which apparel sold in the U.S. market is produced. This is a major change from just a few years ago, when importers were more inclined to avoid any responsibility on this matter.
Codes of conduct are increasingly common in the U.S. apparel industry.
This is a positive sign. Thirty-six of the 42 U.S. retailers and apparel manufacturers that provided reportable responses to the survey conducted for this study indicated that they have adopted a policy specifically prohibiting the use of child labor in the manufacture of goods they import from abroad. These policies take different forms - codes of conduct, statements of company policy in the form of letters to suppliers, provisions in purchase orders or letters of credit, compliance certificates. There are marked differences in the codes of conduct prohibiting the use of child labor among the U.S. companies responding to the survey. A primary difference with regard to such codes is their definition of child labor.