Hanoi (VNA) - The Life and Building Safety (LABS) Initiative wasofficially launched in Hanoi on August 6 by IDH - the sustainable tradeinitiative and the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS), aiming topromote safer conditions for factory workers in the apparel and footwearindustries.

New-generation free trade agreements like theComprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)and the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) have helped appareland footwear enterprises boost collaboration with foreign partners. However,the firms are struggling to fulfill their international commitments as well astheir customers’ requirements on labour safety, production safety andenvironmental protection.

Particularly, many brands and large distributors have recently imposedelectrical and structural safety requirements on factories, considering them asan important trade element in the future. This could cause troubles forVietnamese producers as they are supplying products for various brands.

To assist local businesses, IDH has joined hands with multiple internationalbrands and distributers such as Bestseller, GAP, Li & Fung, PVH, Target, VFCorporation and Walmart to develop the LABS Initiative, in which commonstructural safety standards for the Vietnamese apparel and footwear industries areset up.

The standards are built based on international practices and relevantregulations in Vietnam. The programme was piloted in 29 Vietnamese apparel andfootwear factories, who are having contracts with the mentioned brands, and itis ready to applied in other firms nationwide in the coming time.

Director of IDH Vietnam Huynh Tien Dung said as many deaths in apparel andfootwear factories are caused by building collapse and fires, it is a must toeliminate electrical and structural safety risks.

It is not a surprise as giant distributers and brands have shown their increasinginterest in the field, he said, expressing his hope that the IDH Initiativewill contribute to promoting trade cooperation as well as sustainabledevelopment of the Vietnamese apparel and footwear industries.

Meanwhile, VITAS Deputy Secretary General Hoang Ngoc Anh said the associationsupports the building of a set of common standards on factory safety, whichwill be applied in all brands.

She wished that more brands will join the LABS Initiative in the coming time,helping Vietnamese firms save time and efforts in investing in safety measuresas well as making reports to brands and distributers.

IDH is an international non-governmental organisation, with approaches designedto drive sustainability from niche to norm in mainstream markets, deliveringimpact on Sustainable Development Goals.

It is supported by multiple European governments,including institutional donors like BUZA, SECO and DANIDA. Besides, it hasworked together with 600 companies, social organisations, financialinstitutions, producer organisations and governments in 12 sectors and 12landscapes in over 40 countries worldwide.-VNA