View our previous policy from November 2020 here.
American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (“AEO”), is committed to upholding a high level of social responsibility as it relates to the treatment of workers, by agents, vendors, factories, subcontractors and others in our supply chain. In that spirit, we work both as an individual company as well as with our industry partners – including the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), American Apparel & Footwear Association, National Retail Federation (NRF), and the US Fashion Industry Association (USFIA) – to help advance human rights worldwide, which includes stopping the practice of forced labor.
At AEO, we do not tolerate the use of forced labor in our supply chain. We have taken action and will continue to actively monitor our supply chain to help ensure that our partners abide by the same guiding rules and principles in which we believe and take pride. Specifically, AEO has a comprehensive Supplier Code of Conduct which is based upon internationally accepted standards, including the International Labor Organization (ILO)’s core conventions and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. AEO uses this Code of Conduct to work collaboratively with its factory partners to ensure they meet AEO’s requirements. To that end, the Code of Conduct explicitly prohibits its suppliers from using “any form of forced, involuntary or trafficked labor, including prison, bonded, and indentured.”
Additionally, in 2018, AEO signed on to the AAFA and FLA Apparel & Footwear Industry Commitment to Responsible Recruitment, a proactive industry effort to address potential risks that migrant workers can face related to forced labor.
Furthermore, in 2019, AEO implemented a Forced Labor and Migrant Worker Policy. The purpose of this policy is to eliminate the presence of forced labor and to ensure that migrant workers hired by suppliers are adequately protected from potential exploitation. Suppliers utilized by AEO must agree to comply with this policy prior to manufacturing anything for AEO.
Due to reports of forced labor and other violations of human rights, we have proactively prohibited our suppliers from sourcing form certain regions and from doing business with certain entities. In particular:
- Suppliers are not permitted to manufacture any product or use any raw material from Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan or the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR) in China in any AEO brands’ products.
- Suppliers are further prohibited from conducting direct or indirect business with any party that has personal or business links to the XUAR, the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) or any entities on the Uygur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List. Indirect business includes the participation of XPCC or any of its Affiliates anywhere in our supply chain, including the provision, production or manufacture of cotton, yarn, fabric or finished goods, financial transactions, or any other provision of goods or services.
We expect all suppliers to take steps to maintain accurate maps of their supply chains concerning the source of raw cotton or cotton products and any other materials purchased for use in AEO products. Such steps include, but are not limited to, obtaining country of origin certificates for raw cotton and other materials used in spinning yard for fabric; auditing; and testing to verify origin information.
AEO will remain vigilant in its commitment to social responsibility and to ensuring that its suppliers continue to adhere to our standards.
