Brands sign binding purchasing practices accord to curb order-squeeze pressures

Twenty major apparel buyers commit to enforceable payment terms, costing floors and forecasting standards that address the buyer behaviours linked to labour abuse.

In a first for the sector, twenty apparel brands signed a legally binding accord on purchasing practices, committing to pay within 60 days, honour agreed prices and share order forecasts — the commercial pressures research links most strongly to forced overtime and wage violations.

Supplier associations in Bangladesh and Vietnam called the accord a structural shift, moving responsibility for labour conditions upstream to the buying decisions that shape them.