MKOne withdraws clothing made in Burma

MkOne has withdrawn a range of clothes after The Observer told the firm that they were made in Burma, which is ruled by a military dictatorship. The high street store, owned by Baugur, claimed to have had no knowledge of where the clothes came from and conducted an immediate investigation once this newspaper made them aware of the issue. A series of items were found by shoppers to have 'Made in Myanmar' labels in MkOne's Brighton store over a two-week period.

Dominic Galvin, MkOne's chief executive, said: 'Any supplier we deal with should not source from Burma . We were definitely not aware of this issue. I have launched a full investigation into the matter.' But the company refused to reveal the supplier's identity, citing 'commercial confidentiality'.

Clothing exports are an important source of income for Burma. The US banned imports of clothing from Burma in 2003. More than 130 major clothing retailers, including M&S, Next, ASDA, H&M, Debenhams, House of Fraser and BHS, have policies not to source from that country. 'In most cases, we say it's vital for companies to work with suppliers to improve conditions but with Burma the regime is so bad we condemn any supplier or retailer for doing business with the state and urge them to pull out,' said the Ethical Trading Initiative.