News & Press Releases - Fair procurement for the public sector
New handout with sample formulations for transparency in textile procurement
So far, it has been difficult to assign public contracts to specific production sites in the Global South. There are no statistics on this, nor is this information regularly requested in calls for tenders to date. What is shocking is that human rights due diligence obligations cannot actually be fulfilled: Those who remain invisible can easily be exploited. What do public buyers need to change that?
With the new handout "Mirror, mirror on the wall, where do the textiles of the public sector come from?" FEMNET provides them with legally tested model formulations and a strong basis for argumentation. An elaborate data collection shows for the first time: Pakistan is the most important country of production for the German public sector. This is explosive, because Pakistan is a high-risk country where violations of human rights and environmental protection are particularly likely for systemic reasons.
Pakistan – risky country of production for public sector bodies
FEMNET compares procurement statistics with customs and trade data (TED, Trade Atlas, Open Supply Hub). This is complemented by expert discussions with municipalities, academia and civil society. Due to the difficult data situation, this is a non-representative approach, but there is still a clear picture: High-risk countries, especially Pakistan, supply the public sector in Germany. Studies in Sweden, Spain and the UK have come to the same conclusion. The data situation underscores: There is an urgent need for action.
Demanding transparency in a legally sound manner
As a recommendation for action, legally compliant connecting points in the procurement procedure and various means of proof are discussed and critically examined. Buyers can use the legally audited model formulations to integrate transparency criteria into tender specifications, selection criteria, award criteria or execution conditions – proportionate and enforceable.
In the short term, the integration of transparency requirements in textile procurement is worthwhile, as it allows procurement bodies to sensibly align their sustainability criteria to this. If you are just getting started with sustainable textile procurement, you can identify the products that are particularly risky due to their origin. In the medium term, data retrieval could be simplified by collecting data centrally (and not publicly) at EU level.
Breaking the compliance facade: Monitoring in the public domain
Particularly interesting, however, is the longer-term perspective: By demanding transparency criteria, procuring entities can now prepare the ground for the establishment of their own monitoring system for publicly procured textiles. Overall, it would be much easier to assess the sustainability of these textiles. What such a ‘Textile Watch’ could look like as a consortium of independent monitoring partners in the producing countries with public buyers and textile companies:Electronics watch“ already successfully in the IT sector. For municipalities, participation would have many advantages, so they should join at an early stage: In Textile Watch, they could pool their market power, relieve individual contracting entities, and the new structure would be fully compatible with existing initiatives.
Transparency in the supply chain only makes exploitative structures visible. Through their market power, municipalities can help to enforce fair work globally.