Successful complaint against comsumer deception - LIDL retracts advertisements
The
complaint filed on 6 April 2010 by the Hamburg Customer
Protection Agency against Lidl due to unfair competition resulted in a swift
victory. Vis-à-vis the Customer Protection Agency, Lidl formally agreed to
cease proclaiming worldwide fair working conditions in its advertisements. The
complaint was supported by the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) and the European
Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR). The pair objected to Lidl's
advertisements that promised consumers fair labor conditions in its textile
supplier plants in Bangladesh.
Lidl can no longer claim in advertising brochures that: "We trade fairly! Every product has a story. Who writes this story is important to us. Lidl globally advocates fair working conditions. Therefore, at Lidl, we contract our non-food orders only to selected suppliers and producers that are willing to undertake and can demonstrate their social responsibility. We categorically oppose every form of child labor, as well as human and labor rights violations in our production facilities. We effectively ensure these standards." Furthermore, Lidl can no longer indicate their membership in the Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) in their advertising brochures. This European business initiative advocates social standards as its objective, but these standards not obligatory for its members and their suppliers.
The complaint refers to an investigation by the CCC and the ECCHR. Textile workers in various Lidl suppliers in Bangladesh reported inhumane working conditions, including excessive overtime with scarce and nontransparent compensation, payroll deductions as punishment, prohibition of trade unions, and discrimination against female workers. The aforementioned conditions violate the International Labour Organization Convention, the BSI code of conduct, and Lidl's self-imposed obligations.
"Lidl must retract their advertisements. This outcome illustrates that competition laws can also be an effective means against deceptive advertisements concerning social responsibility. However, this doesn't help a single textile worker in Bangladesh," stated Günter Hörmann, the Director of the Customer Protection Agency in Hamburg.
"The case demonstrates that it is risky for a corporation to put on a social guise. We call upon the federal government to oblige corporations to adhere to social standards along their supply chains, so that in the future concerns over working conditions in Bangladesh and China do not merely remain confined to deceptive advertisements," said Gisela Burckhardt from the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC).
"We hold that Lidl is legally accountable for their promises of fair working conditions. It is indefensible that the workers affected by these horrendous labor conditions in the supplying plants of German corporations cannot take legal action against these global corporations in Germany," criticized Miriam Saage-Maaß (ECCHR).
Lidl has offered to engage its critics in a dialogue. The Customer Protection Agency, CCC, and ECCHR will accept the offer.
Lidl can no longer claim in advertising brochures that: "We trade fairly! Every product has a story. Who writes this story is important to us. Lidl globally advocates fair working conditions. Therefore, at Lidl, we contract our non-food orders only to selected suppliers and producers that are willing to undertake and can demonstrate their social responsibility. We categorically oppose every form of child labor, as well as human and labor rights violations in our production facilities. We effectively ensure these standards." Furthermore, Lidl can no longer indicate their membership in the Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) in their advertising brochures. This European business initiative advocates social standards as its objective, but these standards not obligatory for its members and their suppliers.
The complaint refers to an investigation by the CCC and the ECCHR. Textile workers in various Lidl suppliers in Bangladesh reported inhumane working conditions, including excessive overtime with scarce and nontransparent compensation, payroll deductions as punishment, prohibition of trade unions, and discrimination against female workers. The aforementioned conditions violate the International Labour Organization Convention, the BSI code of conduct, and Lidl's self-imposed obligations.
"Lidl must retract their advertisements. This outcome illustrates that competition laws can also be an effective means against deceptive advertisements concerning social responsibility. However, this doesn't help a single textile worker in Bangladesh," stated Günter Hörmann, the Director of the Customer Protection Agency in Hamburg.
"The case demonstrates that it is risky for a corporation to put on a social guise. We call upon the federal government to oblige corporations to adhere to social standards along their supply chains, so that in the future concerns over working conditions in Bangladesh and China do not merely remain confined to deceptive advertisements," said Gisela Burckhardt from the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC).
"We hold that Lidl is legally accountable for their promises of fair working conditions. It is indefensible that the workers affected by these horrendous labor conditions in the supplying plants of German corporations cannot take legal action against these global corporations in Germany," criticized Miriam Saage-Maaß (ECCHR).
Lidl has offered to engage its critics in a dialogue. The Customer Protection Agency, CCC, and ECCHR will accept the offer.