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The factories named in your correspondence have had regular unannounced audits by our Code of Practice team every 3 months. In all of those previous audits , no breaches of our Code of Practice standards were found . However following your email on 23rd June, our Myanmar team immediately initiated an investigation on top of our normal processes, into the alleged abuses reported by Myanmar Labour News. Following this investigation, we identified severe breaches of our Code of Practice at one of the two factories you named in your email to us.

Recognising that input from an expert on the ground would be required to help us manage the case, we are now working with a local, credible organisation who have already carried out an initial assessment. Based on this assessment and accompanying remediation plan, we are now engaged with relevant internal parties and external stakeholders such as NGOs to agree next steps. This is still in the early stages but we will continue to monitor progress and are committed to ensuring that remediation is undertaken. If the remediation plan does not produce the desired outcome then we will take steps to disengage.

There are further details relating to this case that we cannot share due to the confidentiality agreement as part of contractual terms and conditions with our suppliers.

[The full response is attached]