FRANKFURT - Fashion brands may be bracing themselves after legal action was launched against car giants VW, BMW and Mercedes over alleged links to forced labour in the Xinjiang region of China.
The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) case, brought under the new German Supply Chain Act, accuses the three car giants of failing to produce evidence they are adequately responding to forced labour risks in supplier factories in Xinjiang.
Significantly for the fashion and textiles industry, the complaint - lodged with the German Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA) - relies on evidence from Laura Murphy, professor of human rights and contemporary slavery at Sheffield Hallam University.
