PUMA earns Fair Labor Association reaccreditation

WASHINGTON – The Fair Labor Association announced today that its board of directors voted to reaccredit PUMA’s social compliance program after the company demonstrated in a lengthy review that it continues to have strong policies and practices in place to identify and remediate unfair labor practices in its global supply chain. PUMA has been an FLA affiliate since 2004, and its social compliance program was first accredited by the FLA in 2007, before being reaccredited in 2010. It is PUMA’s second reaccreditation by the FLA.

“PUMA’s commitment to transparency and accountability to protect workers’ rights is clear through its public commitments, including its supplier list disclosure, annual sustainability reports, and increased investment in its social sustainability team,” said Sharon Waxman, president and CEO of the FLA. “PUMA has continued to improve its sustainability program throughout its 15-year FLA affiliation. The latest reaccreditation reflects the substantial resources that PUMA has dedicated to implementing the FLA’s Principles of Responsible Sourcing.”

The FLA reaccreditation report noted that PUMA’s social compliance program included the following strengths:

• Commitment from PUMA’s top management to provide annual sustainability reports and public supplier lists, as part of a sustainability strategy that is regularly reviewed by stakeholders
• Use of a social sustainability team that is integrated within the sourcing team to coordinate implementation of responsible purchasing practices
• Annual supplier roundtable meetings that are mandatory for all suppliers and take place in multiple regions throughout PUMA’s global supply chain
• Regular collaboration on audits and remediation with other companies, which helps to support effective remediation
• Strategic partnerships with civil society organizations to support PUMA’s remediation efforts and special projects

“Social compliance is a key value for PUMA,” said Michael Bennett, Global Director, SourceCo. “A long-term partnership with the FLA is a cornerstone of our strategy. No single brand, even the most powerful, can improve working conditions and reduce impacts on the environment throughout its supply chain on its own. We must all work together to catalyze systemic changes.”

The FLA is the only organization of its kind to which companies and suppliers commit to meeting the standards of regular review and assessment of corporate systems that support workers’ rights. FLA accreditation is the gold standard for a systems-level approach to human rights compliance and social responsibility. Companies must regularly assess supply chain production facilities for adherence to international labor standards and pursue continuous improvement efforts to address conditions for workers to achieve accreditation.

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