"Chinese prisoner’s ID card apparently found in lining of Regatta coat", Dec 1 2023

An ID card that appears to belong to a Chinese prisoner was found inside the lining of a coat from the British brand Regatta, raising concerns that the clothing was manufactured using prison labour.

....[the buyer] discovered what looked like a prison identification card, with a mugshot of a man apparently in a prisoner’s uniform in front of a height chart, and the name of the prison in China.

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The card was found inside a plastic holder embossed with the words: “Produced by the Ministry of Justice prisons bureau.”

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The company encouraged her to return the ID card, saying that it would replace her original coat ... and send her a new additional coat “as a gesture of goodwill”, she said ...

Regatta denies that a new coat was offered in exchange for the ID card.

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According to Regatta’s 2023 modern slavery statement, “forced or imprisoned labour is prohibited” in its supply chain and it is a member of the Ethical Trading Initiative, a membership organisation that requires adherence with certain guidelines, including a ban on “forced, bonded or involuntary prison labour”. The statement also says 70 factories were audited in 2022-2023, although it is unclear how many were in China.

A spokesperson for Regatta said: “Regatta Ltd took the incident reported to us by a customer very seriously and an immediate investigation commenced. As a business and members of the Ethical Trading Initiative, we have strict policies in place to ensure ethical working standards for all, and zero tolerance for forced or prison labour. Following a thorough investigation, we can state that this garment was made in a fully compliant factory and that numerous inspections of the factory, including a certified third-party visit to the site, found no breaches of any of our policies.”

“We are continuing to investigate how the item came to be sewn into the garment.”

The coat was made in China, although information on the Regatta website and in a QR code sewn into the coat also states Myanmar as a manufacturing location. It was produced in July 2023, according to the label.

The prison identified on the ID card found in the Regatta coat says on its website that it specialises in clothing production and the processing of electronics components. Prisoners in that province are typically paid 1-1.5 yuan (£0.11-£0.17) an hour, according to local guidelines. The Guardian is not naming the individual or the prison to protect their safety.

It is not clear how the ID card ended up in the coat or whether it was put there deliberately ...

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