New York, NY, April 3, 2009 "“ The Fair Factories Clearinghouse (FFC), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to supporting factory compliance through the sharing of factory audit information, welcomed its newest member, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

The FFC was founded in 2004 with a simple but innovative idea: offer software to companies to manage and share compliance data from global factory assessments, to enable cost-effective and well-informed ethical sourcing transactions, within a collaborative membership community. The goal of the FFC is to enable companies to easily collaborate on global compliance issues using technology, ultimately driving greater efficiency and cost savings, risk mitigation and assurance in factory compliance monitoring for all participants -- ultimately leading to improved factory conditions on a range of issues including social, security, occupational health & safety and environmental compliance.

"We are enormously pleased to welcome Wal-Mart as the latest member of the FFC," said Marianne Voss, FFC's Executive Director. "The recent membership of this major company signifies that the FFC is providing the right programs at the right time in the field of supply chain compliance."

In April 2008, the FFC launched its Sharing Platform, providing members with ability to immediately identify overlap in the supply chain and to exchange non-competitive information concerning factory compliance with other members. FFC's innovation is that it facilitates sharing the data collected by any participant for accessibility and transparency among all participants, on a voluntary basis and in accordance with antitrust and anti-competition guidelines. (The FFC received a Business Review Letter from the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division).

"We offer our members greater chances of success through collaboration," said Ms.Voss. "The resulting global clearinghouse of factory information from our Sharing Platform allows members to identify common needs, prioritize them and attack them together. We hope that doing so will help our members over time eliminate redundancies, lower costs, reduce labor load, increase learning, improve leverage and enhance performance."

The FCC's current membership roster includes adidas Group, ASICS America, Burberry, Dress Barn, Levi Strauss & Co, L.L. Bean, Macy's Merchandising Group, Mark’s Work Wearhouse, Nike Inc., Nordstrom, Patagonia, the Starbucks Coffee Company, the Timberland Company, VF Corporation, the National Retail Federation and the Retail Council of Canada. The FFC's rapidly growing database currently contains over 21,000 factories records and over 50,000 Compliance documents.


Enabling responsible international workplaces

PRESS RELEASE

The FFC is a non-profit organization incorporated in the State of New York in 2004. The FFC is a standards-neutral, non-bottom line vested organization. The FFC is supported through contributions from retail associations and participating companies and through grants, including funding provided by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. It is also supported by in kind contributions from its members and from Microsoft.

For more information, see: www.fairfactories.org, or email information@fairfactories.org.

Fair Factories Clearinghouse

Fair Factories Clearinghouse

The Fair Factories Clearinghouse (FFC)'s is a non-profit organization founded in 2004 with a simple but innovative idea: offer software to companies, within a collaborative membership community. FFC One World is “A Collaborative Workplace.” In CSR, sharing information and experience results in greater knowledge overall, and this means progress. Through sharing and collaboration, beginners can gain from people with more experience. Small enterprises can learn from larger companies with greater resources and risk management backgrounds. A motive in common is to improve human rights and environmental working conditions around the world. Within the collaborative community are answers to many questions. Join. Ask. Share. Become part of the Fair Factories Clearinghouse partnership--support and take advantage of shared efforts to create more effective and efficient monitoring practices for you and the industry.

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