Multi-Fibre Agreement Forum

ETI Other activities

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Introduction to Project

The end of the MFA, also known as the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC), will have significant economic and social consequences. In the short term these will be mostly negative for some key textiles and garment producing countries, even though it is acknowledged that certain opportunities will arise as a result. Despite widespread, concerned debate, the response to date to these negative predicted outcomes has been fragmented and limited.

The MFA Forum, a collection of multilateral and national public institutions, labour and civil society organisations, businesses and multi-stakeholder initiatives (including ETI), came together in March 2004 to better understand the implications of the end of the MFA, particularly for workers and communities, and to explore how best to promote collaborative approaches to mitigating negative impacts and taking advantage of new opportunities.

Several pieces of research on the MFA and its ending have been the specific outputs of the Forum’s work to date. These outputs have already been, and will continue to be, useful in raising awareness and facilitating dialogue and action - see Project Documents below.

Working Group Members

Initial members of the working group:

• AccountAbility
• Business for Social Responsibility
• Co-operative Group
• Department for International Development (UK)
• Development Alternatives
• Ethical Trading Initiative
• Fair Labor Association
• Gap Inc.
• Global Alliance for Workers & Communities
• ICCR
• International Textiles, Garment & Leather Workers’ Federation
• Maquila Solidarity Network
• Marks & Spencer
• Nike
• Oxfam International
• Social Accountability International
• UNDP Asia Trade Initiative
• UN Global Compact
• World Bank Group

For further information contact:

Sasha Radovich, Senior Researcher/Advisor, is anchoring this work at AccountAbility:
Email: sasha@accountability.org.uk
Tel: +44 (0)20 7549 0400.

MFA Forum website

 

 

 

Project documents & links:

1. MFA Phase-out: Who gains? Who loses? (detailed Seminar report, Oct 2004)
2. ETI Press Release: Ethical Trading Initiative welcomes key output of Dhaka conference. (30 June 2005)
3. ETI Press Release: Dhaka conference: ETI Chair calls for joint action to protect poorest workers. (24 June 2005)
    

Relevant links:

• Project website: MFA Forum website.
• MFA Forum documents (downloads from AccountAbility site):
  • Communications Briefing - ‘Unpicking the phase-out of the MFA’ [PDF, 86kb].
  • ‘Managing the Transition to a Responsible Global Textile and Garment Industry’ [PDF, 429kb] - a synthesis of the research undertaken by AccountAbility, Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) and the World Bank for the MFA Forum.
  • ‘Mapping the End of the MFA’ [PDF, 839kb] by AccountAbility for the MFA Forum - examines predicted impacts of the phase out of quota on industry, and policy options for different actors, including an in-depth analysis of the predicted impact on 10 developing countries.
  • ‘The Multi-Fibre Arrangement (MFA) Strategic Sourcing Impact: The Private Sector Perspective’ [PDF, 580kb] by BSR - a study of the effect that the phase out of the MFA will have on the future sourcing decisions of the private sector.
  • ‘The Collaborative Framework for Guiding Post-MFA Actions’ [PDF, 124kb] - a simple set of principles to guide the actions of individual actors and collaborative initiatives.