[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 95 (Tuesday, June 25, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1165]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E1165]]


               REEBOK ANNOUNCES AN INNOVATIVE INITIATIVE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. JOHN JOSEPH MOAKLEY

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 25, 1996

  Mr. MOAKLEY. Mr. Speaker, at a time when many companies are asking 
themselves how they can select manufactures that do not exploit workers 
around the world, Reebok International Ltd. has announced an innovative 
and precedent-setting initiative in Pakistan.
  Mr. Speaker, about half of the world's soccer balls are made in 
Pakistan and recent reports indicate that as many as 20 percent of the 
balls are being stitched by children. As a result, Reebok has spent 
months negotiating with soccer ball manufacturers to come up with a way 
to ensure that children will not stitch Reebok balls. The result is an 
agreement between Reebok, Moltex, a Pakistani ball manufacturer, and 
Reed and Associates, a design and development company, that requires 
the construction of a new factory in which all stitching will be 
performed inside the factory, together with vigorous monitoring and an 
educational program to help area children formerly employed stitching 
balls.
  Reebok has long been recognized for its leadership in creating 
awareness of human rights through its sponsorship of the Amnesty 
International Human Rights Now! Concert tour, through its annual Reebok 
Human Rights Award, and through its thoughtful implementation of its 
Reebok Human Rights Production Standards. With the child-labor-free 
soccer ball initiative, Reebok has again demonstrated that it can honor 
its commitment to human rights and be a successful business at the same 
time.
  I have attached the letter from Peter Moore, senior vice president, 
Global Soccer/Rugby at Reebok which explains the initiative and ask 
that it be inserted into the Record at this time.


                                                        Reebok

                                     Stoughton, MA, June 12, 1996.
       I am writing to announce that after many months of research 
     and planning, Reebok has put into place plans to buy 
     Pakistani-made soccer balls that we know with certainty will 
     not be stitched by children. Before I describe this program 
     to you, I want to provide you with the background that has 
     led us to embark on this venture.
       Reebok is a global athletic sports and fitness brand 
     dedicated to bringing exciting, quality products to market. 
     As a company that has long stood for human rights, we are 
     also committed to finding partners that will manufacture 
     these products in a fair and just manner.
       Our soccer business is critically important to us worldwide 
     and, ever since we first learned that as many as 20% of 
     soccer ball stitchers in Pakistan may be children, we have 
     been reassessing this aspect of our business with the hope 
     that we could find a way to operate there that reflects our 
     human rights standards.
       Working with colleagues at the Soccer Industry Council of 
     America (SICA), Reebok helped establish the Task Force on 
     Global Manufacturing Practices to organize, research and 
     develop recommendations for action. The SICA Task Force 
     represents a significant attempt by U.S. industry to address 
     the problem of child labor. The Task Force has called on the 
     services of outside experts, including a noted human rights 
     activist and professor of human rights and business ethics at 
     Columbia University and a highly-regarded research 
     organization based in Pakistan with experience working with 
     UNICEF and other international organizations.
       Through the Task Force we have been able to understand 
     possible options to explore--and what to avoid--when 
     approaching this problem.
       We learned that child labor in Pakistan is a symptom of 
     serious social and economic challenges--rampant poverty, 
     inadequate educational opportunities, and cultural attitudes 
     concerning the responsibilities of family members, to name 
     only three.
       Although the conditions for children were by no means as 
     abusive as we had feared (researchers found no support for 
     allegations of ``bonded'' or ``slave'' labor in soccer ball 
     assembly and conditions were substantially better than in 
     other industries in that region) the use of children violated 
     internationally recognized labor standards and our own code 
     of conduct, the Reebok Human Rights Production Standards.
       We learned that when children are used to stitch soccer 
     ball panels, they are outside the factories, in homes and 
     small stitching centers scattered across 250 square 
     kilometers surrounding the industrial town of Sialkot. Under 
     these conditions, it has been impossible to adequately 
     monitor whether or not children were stitching balls.
       Most knowledgeable individuals, non-governmental 
     organizations and social service providers in Pakistan want 
     U.S. companies to continue buying soccer balls made in 
     Pakistan. Ceasing to source balls in Pakistan would cause 
     additional hardship for the very workers and their families 
     we are seeking to protect.
       Industry alone cannot alleviate the conditions that give 
     rise to child labor, although we feel we can and must do our 
     part.
       After soliciting a number of proposals from soccer ball 
     manufacturers in Pakistan, Reebok has reached an agreement 
     with Moltex Sporting Goods (PVT) Ltd. and Reed and Associates 
     to establish a new manufacturing facility. Reed and 
     Associates is a French-based company specializing in research 
     and development, sourcing and manufacturing of soccer and 
     rugby balls. Moltex is a Pakistani soccer and rugby ball 
     manufacturing company. The agreement has three major 
     components:
       Moltex and Reed have agreed to begin immediate construction 
     on a new soccer ball facility that will be dedicated to the 
     production of Reebok balls. All work on the balls will be 
     performed on this factory site. All workers will be age 15 
     (the legal working age in Pakistan) or higher. Should the 
     minimum age for workers in Pakistan be raised, the higher age 
     will apply to factory workers.
       Reebok is making a commitment to support educational and/or 
     vocational training for children in the soccer ball 
     manufacturing region of Pakistan. We are keenly aware of the 
     impact the changes we contemplate will have on children and 
     their families currently stitching soccer balls. Experts 
     agree that the antidote to child labor is education. Reebok 
     will support educational and/or vocational training programs 
     in Pakistan, thus contributing to a more secure, hopeful 
     future.
       Reebok will undertake a vigorous monitoring program to 
     ensure that: a/ children are not entering the workplace, and 
     b/ soccer ball panels are not leaving the factory to be 
     stitched by children. We are now involved in the process of 
     determining what kind of monitoring would be most effective 
     to achieve this end.
       We are confident that this agreement will give us the 
     framework to work with our Pakistani partners to commence 
     initial production later this year and to achieve full 
     production capacity by early 1997.
       To those who wonder whether there are additional costs 
     associated with in-factory stitchers and answer is: ``yes.'' 
     Nevertheless, we are committed, as are our factory partners, 
     to retaining our competitive place in the marketplace, 
     delivering the high quality balls our consumers have come to 
     expect and living up to our human rights production 
     standards.
       There is much to be done to implement this plan. We know it 
     will not be easy and that there will be bumps along the road. 
     Yet we know we cannot remain in the soccer ball business 
     until and unless we find a way of doing business that allows 
     us to live up to our commitments. We believe this arrangement 
     can do that.
           Sincerely,
                                                      Peter Moore,
     Senior Vice President, Global Soccer/Rugby Division.

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