TrusTrace partners with Kharon to highlight forced labour risks

Traceability solutions provider TrusTrace is partnering with Kharon, a leading provider in research and data analytics on global trade compliance, sanctions and other potential commercial threats, to help fashion brands and retailers address forced labour risks in their supply chain.

The collaboration will help retail and fashion companies facilitate risk monitoring and evidence collection to demonstrate compliance for global supply chain legislation such as the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) in the US and similar laws being developed by the European Union.

TrusTrace said that the partnership with Kharon will “strengthen processes and risk identification” for its clients by leveraging Kharon's risk and insights, which will highlight suppliers with an increased risk of exposure to forced labour directly on the TrusTrace platform. Suppliers presented via TrusTrace will continuously be evaluated against the high-risk entities identified by Kharon, and if there is a match, the supplier risk will be flagged.

“Retail and fashion companies around the world need to understand who their suppliers are and what materials they are using in order to comply with the UFLPA law,” said TrusTrace co-founder and chief executive Shameek Ghosh. “Our partnership with Kharon will make it easy to assess risk of individual suppliers’ ties to forced labour with up-to-date information integrated directly from Kharon’s platform.”

TrusTrace links with Kharon to streamline forced labour risk management for fashion brands

Kit Conklin, vice president of global client engagement at Kharon, added: “As forced labour awareness continues to accelerate, and as global regulations focusing on forced labour increase, businesses must recognise that the risks of inaction are simply too great.

“By leveraging Kharon’s data alongside the powerful due diligence solutions of TrusTrace, companies can proactively mitigate risk to protect themselves from the legal, financial, and reputational fallout that now accompanies exploitation in their supply chains.”

In addition, TrusTrace said it will be releasing product improvements for the UFLPA in the next two quarters to provide global fashion and retail brands with verified data in real-time, as materials and finished goods move through the supply chain. The technology it states will empower brands and suppliers to standardise how supply chain and material traceability data is captured, digitised and shared.

TrusTrace is based in Stockholm, Sweden, with offices in India, France and the US. Its platform for supply chain traceability for fashion and retail is built on artificial intelligence, blockchain, software bots, and IoT technologies and integrates with the manufacturer, retailer, and supplier’s existing systems, as well as those of third-party certification agencies and other sustainability solution providers.