The Platform on Sustainable Textiles of the Asian Region, or STAR Network, has added four new members: Indonesian Textile Association, the Turkish Clothing Manufacturers Association, the Istanbul Ready-Made Garments Exporters’ Association and the Moroccan Association of Textile & Clothing Industries. As per Fashion Network, these members are from Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Myanmar, Pakistan and Vietnam. They are banding together to agree on common positions regarding payment and delivery terms and reset the buyer-supplier relationship.

Suppliers represent two-thirds of the global market for apparel and footwear factory exports. They were being squeezed with falling demand worsened by the pandemic. As per a survey of 75 factories in 15 countries, published in October by the Worker Rights Consortium and the Center for Global Workers’ Rights at Penn State University, suppliers have to wait an average 77 days after they complete and ship new orders before to receive payment, compared to 43 days in pre-pandemic days. In addition, 40 per cent of buyers demanded an extension of payment period to 120 days.

In collaboration with stakeholders and partners such as GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit), the International Apparel Federation and the Better Buying Institute, the STAR Network seeks to enable manufacturers jointly draft a set of minimum expectations related to payment and delivery, including establishing fair and legitimate business principles.