Canadian brands cancel deal with Chinese supplier over use of North Korean forced labour

Canadian apparel company Reitmans recently cancelled a contract with a Chinese supplier after a report by CBC News showed that it was using forced North Korean labour. This comes after a series of undercover investigations by the broadcaster CBC.

Reitmans is not the only brand to be involved with this Chinese supplier. YM Inc, which owns various other brands such as Sirens, Stitches and Bluenotes, also did business with the same factory, Dandong Huayang Textiles and Garment Co. Ltd.

After the brands came to know about the forced labour scenario, YM said that it does not partner with anyone using forced labour.

Reitmans, which has over 400 outlets in the country, issued a statement saying that it decided to “proactively stop issuing new business purchase orders with this supplier” at the end of 2020 and also decided to “pull all remaining inventory” of the styles originating from this supplier.

It further added, “We are shaken by these new allegations about the presence of North Korean guest workers in what appears to be Dandong Huayang Textiles and Garments Ltd factories.”

Dandong Huayang Textiles and Garment Co. Ltd. has refuted the allegation of using “illegal workers."

As per experts, the city of Dandong is located on the border of North Korea and China. It has a history of employing North Korean workers and therefore Dandong Huayang is no exception.

Reitmans has announced it will donate the unused clothing from the supplier to local charities.

The CBC report further claimed that it might violate 2017 UNSC sanctions that ban employment of North Koreans. This was done to prevent funding to Pyongyang's illegal nuclearprogrammes.