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Oxfam has urged UK prime minister Gordon Brown to create a more ‘enabling environment for ethical trade’ in public procurement.
The UK public sector spends £125billion ($250bn) annually on goods and services, including £13bn on medical supplies for the National Health Service. Oxfam claims many of these are sourced from emerging economies under poor working conditions.
However, it points out that official UK procurement guidelines prevent public sector bodies from applying ethical principles, so that the NHS purchasing agency, for instance, is not allowed to consider child labour when selecting suppliers.
The Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), a UK-based alliance of retailers, trade unions and non-governmental organizations, is backing Oxfam’s demands. It says the government has an unduly ‘conservative interpretation’ of the European Union’s procurement directive, so that public sector buyers focus almost exclusively on value for money. ‘The presence of child labour or bonded labour in the production of publicly procured goods is deemed not to affect the intrinsic value of the product and is therefore not relevant,’ said ETI director Dan Rees.
He added: ‘The private sector is used to the government preaching to them about sustainability. It’s now time for the government to catch up with the private sector on ethical sourcing.’
The Sustainable Procurement Task Force established by Brown’s predecessor Tony Blair recommended last year that ministers introduce a sustainable procurement plan by 2009 covering energy, food, and some other goods and services.
Rees claimed that the UK is ‘completely out of step with other EU member states’. France is currently introducing sustainable development criteria in public procurement contracts. In Belgium contracting authorities can require suppliers of services, works and goods to comply with core ILO conventions in the country of production.
The UK public sector spends £125billion ($250bn) annually on goods and services, including £13bn on medical supplies for the National Health Service. Oxfam claims many of these are sourced from emerging economies under poor working conditions.
However, it points out that official UK procurement guidelines prevent public sector bodies from applying ethical principles, so that the NHS purchasing agency, for instance, is not allowed to consider child labour when selecting suppliers.
The Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), a UK-based alliance of retailers, trade unions and non-governmental organizations, is backing Oxfam’s demands. It says the government has an unduly ‘conservative interpretation’ of the European Union’s procurement directive, so that public sector buyers focus almost exclusively on value for money. ‘The presence of child labour or bonded labour in the production of publicly procured goods is deemed not to affect the intrinsic value of the product and is therefore not relevant,’ said ETI director Dan Rees.
He added: ‘The private sector is used to the government preaching to them about sustainability. It’s now time for the government to catch up with the private sector on ethical sourcing.’
The Sustainable Procurement Task Force established by Brown’s predecessor Tony Blair recommended last year that ministers introduce a sustainable procurement plan by 2009 covering energy, food, and some other goods and services.
Rees claimed that the UK is ‘completely out of step with other EU member states’. France is currently introducing sustainable development criteria in public procurement contracts. In Belgium contracting authorities can require suppliers of services, works and goods to comply with core ILO conventions in the country of production.
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