AAFA JOINS FORCES WITH WRAP ON CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY PRIORITIES

February 7, 2018 | WASHINGTON, D.C.

Today the American Apparel & Footwear Association signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP) during AAFA’s Social Responsibility Committee meeting in Long Beach, CA. The collaborative venture will leverage the organizations’ expertise in corporate social responsibility (CSR) for the apparel and footwear industry with a focus on labor and working hours. Per the agreement, AAFA and WRAP will work together to provide industry tools, resources, and thought leadership to be delivered at AAFA committee meetings, educational events, and webinars. As part of the agreement, WRAP will be recognized as AAFA’s official Corporate Social Responsibility Partner.

“We are excited to enter a more formal agreement with WRAP,” said Rick Helfenbein, president and CEO of AAFA. “AAFA helps our members address changing regulations and international sanctions, and also to move beyond compliance, into forward-looking approaches to social responsibility. We hope to leverage WRAP’s extensive and unique expertise in the CSR space, as they work directly with factories and value chains around the world. This new arrangement will help provide our members with essential guidance on a wide range of social responsibility issues.”

In 2018, AAFA and WRAP will develop guidance for AAFA members on North Korean sanctions as well as developing industry best practices for working hours.

“Organizations at all points in the supply chain are increasingly realizing how central social responsibility is to their long-term success,” said Avedis Seferian, president and CEO of WRAP. “They are turning to experts and thought-leaders in the field to seek advice on best practices in this regard, and AAFA has a wonderful track record as the platform that provides this kind of support for their members. We have had the pleasure and honor of working together for years now and are thrilled to be formally partnering with them to help actors across the value chain gain access to more resources in the CSR space.”

About the Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production 
Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, USA with offices in Hong Kong and Bangladesh and full-time staff in India, Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand) and for Latin America, Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP) is an independent, objective, non-profit team of global social compliance experts dedicated to promoting safe, lawful, humane and ethical manufacturing around the world through certification and education.