The study, which spans six months in 2024, examines more than 100 sources, including academic articles, research, opinion articles and news coverage, as well as interviews with 19 key stakeholders.
The report titled ``To promote human rights and decent working conditions in leather supply chainsaims to conduct detailed inspections of Brazil's leather sector, assess its global and national dimensions to point out labor and human rights challenges, chart obstacles, and highlight ongoing efforts.
"By shedding light on challenges in the upstream supply chains of commodities such as leather, we aim to increase accountability and inspire collective action for more equitable industries. This will help ensure dignity and respect for all workers at all levels of the company's global supply chain," said Richa Mittal, executive vice president and chief innovation officer at FLA.
The report notes that Brazil's leather sector is valued at about $3 billion, the third largest position in the world after Italy and the United States.
Brazil lives approximately 40 million each year and serves 80 different international markets. The European Union received a large portion of these exports, accounting for 25% or about 8 million raw skins. The industry is supported by 244 tannery factories and provides employment to approximately 30,000 people in the country.
The forecast shows that the Brazilian beef industry is likely to grow by 35% over the next 20 years. The expansion of this field is closely related to the leather industry, which plays a crucial role.
It is worth noting that Brazilian leather export rate is very high, with more than 80% being shipped abroad, which is in sharp contrast to beef production, where only 20% of beef production arrives in foreign markets.
Supply Chain Opacity: Disconnection between farms, slaughterhouses and tannery leads to information gaps, reducing product traceability, undisclosed actions, and limited insights into labor conditions.
Labor and human rights concerns: It is said that workers will encounter considerable harm throughout the leather production cycle:
• Slaughterhouses with ongoing worker abuse, psychological distress, gender bias, safety issues, etc.
•Revolutionary plagued by harmful chemicals, child labour risks, temporary employment habits and the absence of unions or workers’ representatives.
•The farm exhibits irregular employment methods; lacks proper living conditions; and has problems with insufficient salary and potential modern slavery.
Certification: Current supplier certification is not sufficient to address labor conditions and human rights and fails to cover the upstream portion of the supply chain (slaughterhouses and farms) where the biggest risks lie.
Collaborative deficit: The clothing, footwear and meat packaging sectors have not yet established structured partnerships to create edibleness or to implement human rights due diligence (HRDD) throughout the value chain.
The report outlines four approaches that businesses can implement to enhance traceability and integrate social and environmental considerations into upstream supply chains:
1. Companies can develop proprietary traceability systems and human rights environment due diligence (HREDD) processes that are directed primarily through their tier one suppliers.
2. Businesses can work with third-party entities on traceability plans and assessments that can adopt various approaches (e.g., top-down or bottom-up) to solve problems (e.g., certification systems, blockchain technologies, digital passports).
3. Companies can form alliances within their industry or across multiple departments to focus on supply chain mapping, remediation efforts and policy advocacy.
4. Companies may consider withdrawing from high-risk countries, with their limited impact on the sector under geopolitical restrictions.
"This report brings attention to the highest risk to workers, with the lowest visibility," said Raquel Fisch, chief consultant at Impactt. "This study shows that workers on farms are in farms, slaughterhouses, and in slavery, slavery usually has few oversight or resort to people at these levels, which are the scope of humanity. Traceability and accountability upstream, and design systems that start with the reality of the most affected workers."
To further disseminate the findings of the key report, FLA and Impactt will hold a public webinar on May 28.
In April, the FLA urged the U.S. to withdraw global labor funding cuts, as the move would undermine efforts to combat child labor and force global labor.
"Labor Rights, Transparent Focus in Brazil's Leather Supply Chain" was originally created and published by the global Data-owned brand Just Style.
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