Walmart, Diesel and Hugo Boss under question, forced labor investigation begins

Canada's corporate ethics watchdog is investigating allegations that Walmart, Hugo Boss and Diesel involved forced labor in their supply chains.

Sheri Meyerhoffer released three reports today that say none of the three companies have done enough to disclose that the products they are selling in Canada are free of slave labor.

These are the fourth, fifth and sixth investigations announced by the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) since it began accepting complaints in March, 2021.

Last month CORE announced investigations into Nike Canada and Canadian mining company Dynasty Gold, and earlier in August an investigation into Ralph Lauren Canada was announced.

The CORE office will review complaints about possible human rights violations by Canadian companies operating abroad.

The organizations asked for an investigation into allegations that some products sold by 14 Canadian companies, most of which are subsidiaries of large American businesses, were made with forced labor in China.

Canadian subsidiaries of all three companies are accused of relying on suppliers who source materials from forced laborers in China's Xinjiang region.

The main challenge, he said, is that products from Xinjiang are often shipped to other countries, meaning that imports from countries such as Vietnam may comprise of forced labor in China if not carefully traced.

However, China has denied such a phenomenon.