January 9, 2009

Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean have experienced massive changes in the apparel and textile industries in the last three years. Most notably, factory closures have impacted most countries, with production moving both within and outside the region. Industry restructuring has also fuelled a race to the bottom on wages and working conditions, with notable regressive actions by governments and industry, such as the recent lowering of the minimum wage in southern Honduras to attract investment, and the negative reaction by manufacturers to attempts to raise the minimum wage in one of the region's poorest countries, Nicaragua.

University of Colorado Professor Jennifer Bair gave an overview of the global trends and changing structure and power relations in garment industry before and after the end of quotas, and looked into the future at the possible impacts these changes will have on the garment industry in the Americas.

• Jennifer Bair, U of Colorado: A changing global industry; impacts and implications for Latin America (power point 3.4MB) (in Spanish)
  

MSN's Bob Jeffcott and Lynda Yanz discussed the findings of a series of interviews carried out by MSN with major international apparel brands concerning changes in their sourcing practices since the end of quotas and important factors determining future sourcing decisions, as well as the possible impacts of those decisions on the region.

• MSN: What do the brands say about changes in sourcing post-MFA? (power point 563K)

 

Key Documents:

• MSN report: Is There a Future for Brand Sourcing in the Americas? Interviews with Apparel Brands about Trends in Global Sourcing (PDF 91K)
• Garment imports to the USA by region and country, 1990-2008 (Excel doc. 57K)
  
• Apparel and footwear exports to the USA
  • Change in exports 2005-07 (PDF 554K)
    
  • Change in exports between January and June in 2007 and 2008 (PDF 570K)
    
• SITC-84: Articles of apparel and clothing accessories (Excel doc. 34K)
  
• Apparel manufacturing labour costs, 2008 (PDF 211K)
  
• Industry summary by country (PDF 349K) (in spanish)
  
• MSN presentation, May 2008: Crisis post-MFA in Mexico (in spanish)
  

Associated articles:

• Colombia hopes to attract more clothing business, just-style, Sept. 8, 2008 (PDF 44K)
  
• Articles on Mexican maquilas in Nicaragua (PDF 91K) (in spanish)
  
• Nicaragua fights to hold trade gains, Women's Wear Daily, May 27, 2008 (PDF 67K)
  
• Articles on Gildan in Honduras (PDF 64K) (in spanish)
  
• Summary on the International Forum on the Supply Chain in the Textile and Garment Sector; a Latin-American Perspective, june 2008 (PDF 132K) (in spanish)
  
• MSN publication: Apparel production in the Americas after quotas, lessons from the Dominican Republic (PDF 870K)
  
• Publication by IFPRI 2008: The impact of the Central America Free Trade Agreement on the Central American textile maquila industry (PDF 432K)
• Investigacion por GMIES: Waiting in vain. What Salvadoran maquilas offer to the workers in the industry (PDF 699K) (in Spanish)
  
• Estudio por CIPAF: Roles in tension: Mothers and women workers in the Dominican free trade zones (PDF 2.7MB) (in Spanish)

*The articles found throughout the report are compiled from international publications. We've posted them here with the intention of promoting greater knowledge of topics related to the garment industry and labour rights. The articles posted are property of the authors and the original publications. If you know any reason why we should not share them here, please let us know.

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MFA+3 Report navigation

• Introduction
• Panel I: Is there a future for garment production in the Americas?
• Panel II: The view from the ground
• Panel III: Role of the state
• Panel IV: Decent work
• Panel V: Brand leverage
• Panel VI: China
• Panel VII: A proactive international agenda for change in the industry
• Looking towards the future