Meeting today's responsibilities as a corporate citizen goes beyond the legal and financial aspect of a company's business, requiring in addition a convincing ethical engagement in social and environmental matters in the context of ongoing globalisation.

Globalisation
To meet the competitive challenge in this age of globalisation C&A must source in the world-wide supply markets, which change fast and are very complex.
The growth of free trade has had beneficial effects throughout history, mostly in terms of economic growth and the raising of individual living standards. This does not occur over night but is a long lasting process of development, democratisation and implementation of social structures.

Textile supply markets
With the opening of markets, which have been restricted for developing countries for a long time, the production of textiles is increasingly seen as a new source of income and a chance to contribute to own development. With this the textile supply chain gets more and more complex and production finds it's way even into the most remote areas of this world.

As a company sourcing in world markets we are confronted with many different social, cultural and legal structures.
Global sourcing is however absolutely essential in order to remain competitive in the retail market - therefore we concluded very early that the need for ethical sourcing is a key component of this enlightened approach. Global sourcing involves business relations between companies in the developed world and producers in developing countries. There may be no agreed standard of ethics between the two parties, with potential for misunderstanding, possibly resulting in unacceptable practices.
Even though we do not manufacture products ourselves, we do not want to have our merchandise made under any inhuman and exploitative circumstances.
We accept our responsibility to ensure that our suppliers produce our merchandise in a way that meets internationally - recognised ethical standards.

C&A approach
Based on the principle of "fair and honest dealings at all times" we have organised and monitored our sourcing activities - stating that we will not tolerate violations of human rights and basic social standards. At the same time we have to respect local laws, norms and culture as far as they are not in conflict with those fundamental ethical and human rights which are common, substantial and non- negotiable.

We have introduced a "Code of Conduct" and made it a contractual obligation for all our business partners. Next to this we have set up a monitoring system, which is tailor-made, pragmatic and effective and enables us to audit global performance throughout the entire textile supply chain, down to the point of manufacture.