This is not a new issue to affect the industry as it follows major problems at Mattel and Gap. There was also the recent case of  Beijing Olympics merchandise being found to be manufactured under dubious working conditions. Although these instances may seem few and far between, as the trade association for the promotional merchandise industry we believe that this is probably just the tip of the iceberg.

The issue now is that the current economic circumstances will only aggravate this situation and increase on this loss of standards as people look for ways and means of cutting production costs still further.

For example, manufacturers in China are increasingly finding themselves under enormous pressure to meet with ever growing supply and demand  from the West, as well as receiving additional pressure from their local market which is experiencing exponential growth from supplying products for the Beijing Olympics. 

This demand for unprecedented high volumes at competitive prices is where loss of working standards is occurring. The result is that children and adults alike are getting exploited and product quality is being compromised.

However, the fact remains that it's not difficult to get it right.

The general rule for ethical souring and manufacturing in third world countries is to work closely with an inspection house, which visits the factory and audits the entire production process.  Primark said that its suppliers had been audited three times in the past 18 months. That, quite frankly, doesn't cut it. 

Big retailers sourcing and manufacturing in large quantities in the Far East or third world countries have a bigger responsibility to check and audit the process.

There are many inspection houses such as the British Standard Institute (BSI) which can be utilised. These inspectors would normally have a standard factory audit.  Companies need to check this list of criteria as they may need to add additional specifications for what they're producing.  

Standard criteria which these inspection processes audit include fair rates of pay, working hours, overtime pay policies, inspecting the canteen and monitoring general hygiene levels.  These inspectors make it their business to check payslips, interview staff, take photographs and make notes on items that are not up to standard.

The key to making this work successfully is to conduct frequent and ad hoc audits. 

Due to the current economic climate, longstanding relationships with suppliers unfortunately do not guarantee a flawless manufacturing process. Auditing suppliers is now more important than ever.  While the pressure is on to deliver the goods, companies that ignore regular and sound inspection processes face brand demise and PR disasters of epic proportions.

As a trade association governing and promoting best practice for all manufacturers and suppliers of promotional products, we know how challenging it is to keep checks and balances in place for our members, so our message is, let's not wait for investigative journalism to lift the lid on our biggest brands before companies can take due precaution.

Margot Parker, European spokeswoman, British Promotional Merchandise Association (BPMA)

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