response by Lowa
...Making LOWA footwear in Europe was and remains a conscious decision. We have pursued this goal for a long time and will continue to do just that. The countries where we product footwear are Germany, Italy, Slovakia, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Thus, the countries where we manufacture were in part included in this research by the CCC.
LOWA strongly condemns the deplorable conditions shown in these reports. The decision to manufacture 100% Made in Europe incorporates our assurance of fair and humane manufacturing conditions. We will be intensifying our oversights in this area in order to be absolutely certain that facilities producing for LOWA abide by such conditions.
For the report by the “Change Your Shoes” (CYS) initiative, LOWA was one of 12 companies that responded to the survey. In answering the comprehensive 52-question survey, we also wanted to see where we stand with the efforts we have been making. It is very clear to us that we have not reached the end of our efforts. The path is still very long to reach the point where all workers have reached a level of having comparable Western living standards. This cannot happen overnight and doubtlessly is only achievable within the framework of industry-wide solutions and multi-stakeholder conversations...