UK-based fashion retail company ASOS has partnered with non-profit organisation GoodWeave to assess the compliance with human rights of fashion suppliers based in India. ASOS said three suppliers will initially be enrolled in the programme with others to follow in the months ahead.

Each supplier will undergo audits and unannounced inspections by dedicated GoodWeave staff who have been trained to identify potential risks and issues of forced, bonded, and child labour. ASOS is planning to begin selling select products covered under the GoodWeave Standard in late 2023. The fashion retailer stated that the new assessments will strengthen its current approach to understanding and addressing risks of child labour and modern slavery through auditing and local engagement.

It also builds on its other NGO partnerships working in the space, including The Centre for Child Rights and Business in China. Officials from ASOS commented that there can be no place for forced, bonded or child labour in the fashion industry, but these risks are always present within complex global supply chains. With this new partnership with GoodWeave, they’re taking their modern slavery and ethical trade work one step further through assurance and deep supply chain mapping, helping them to ensure that workers are protected and their rights respected.

Italian regulator fines retailer YNAP over USD 5 mln Italy’s antitrust agency has penalised online fashion retailer Yoox Net-A-Porter (YNAP) with USD 5. 69 million over misleading pricing and its returns policy. The retailer advertised reductions on products on which the final sale price was ‘substantially the same’ as the pre-discount price and blocked orders from customers who had previously returned more than a certain number of purchases, the regulator said in a statement.

The regulator said the violations took place between 2019 and last 2022. The business was controlled by Swiss luxury group Richemont until 2022, when it sold a majority stake to luxury ecommerce specialist Farfetch and Dubai Mall developer Mohamed Alabbar. .