Main Activities

Main Activities

ABVTEX has four main pillars of operation:

Through a set of institutional actions, partnerships and initiatives, ABVTEX has played its role of encouraging corporate governance principles in its member retailers and the supply chain of fashion retail; promoting and supporting industry development actions; and supporting the combat of pirated goods, which harm retail networks (unfair competition), the government (tax avoidance) and consumers (guaranteed product origin, quality and safety).

The sectorial effort of retail networks for the adoption of best practice by their suppliers found, in ABVTEX a convergence that culminated in the creation and implementation of the ABVTEX Program, in 2010. The Program’s main achievements include mitigating the risk of use of slave-like or child labor in clothing and workshops, formalization of employment, compliance with legislation and respect for work safety regulations, among other advances, promoting an environment that is much more ethical and healthier relationships between retailers and suppliers, providing greater security to consumers with regards the origin of the products.

Partnerships with Ethos Institute and Uniethos in social responsibility and corporate governance actions for micro, small and medium-sized (MSMEs) clothing enterprises. The entity has participated assiduously in events such as the Ethos Conference to present the ABVTEX Program, bringing important information to opinion formers connected to the area of sustainability. The partnership was extended to the Valor em Cadeia (Value in Chain) Program promoted by Uniethos, with the aim of improving business performance, staff wellbeing and environmental management in MSME clothing enterprises.

Meetings with Sebrae Nacional (small business support services) to make possible development programs for the fashion supply chain. ABVTEX has helped in the strategic planning of Sebrae federal units, aiming to develop actions to promote the textile, clothing, footwear and jewelry supply chain.

Operation in Latin America and the Caribbean by participating in international events such as “Cotton – Weaving Opportunities for Latin America and the Caribbean”, held in December 2016 in Assunção, Paraguay. The event proposed to identify strategies to add value to the cotton chain to increase the market share of these countries’ cotton sector in competitive markets. It was an important milestone for ABVTEX’s image and for publicizing the work it does.

Still in the raw materials area, ABVTEX met with representatives of ABRAPA, (Brazilian Association of Cotton Producers) and IAS (Cotton Corporate Institute). The aim was to encourage identification of opportunities for the bodies to work together to promote cotton to the consumer and evaluate mutual recognition of seals (ABVTEX and BCI/ABR) for a complete tracking process throughout the clothing chain, enabling the retailer to guarantee product origin to the consumer.

With regards supporting the combat of piracy and informal employment, ABVTEX has intensified its participation and collaboration in actions and campaigns linked to tackling piracy and smuggling. Together with other such bodies, they support the passing of Bill 333/1999, which increases penalties for those who commit crimes infringing brands and patents, geographical indications and unfair competition.

Another important initiative is the partnership between ABVTEX and the the State Board for Combatting Piracy (CECOP-SC) , of the Santa Catarina State Office of Sustainable Economic Development. A Cooperation Agreement includes the development of a range of actions for tackling pirated goods, tax evasion and crimes against intellectual property.

In the academic ambit, ABVTEX has become close to well-known institutions such as the Faculty of Economic, Administration and Accounting, Universidade de São Paulo (FEA/USP), where it gave a talk on “Supply Chains in the Fashion Sector”. A similar action was held at the Armando Alvares Penteado Foundation (FAAP).

The partnership with the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC-SP) for curating and developing a specialization course in Innovative Leadership for Sustainability was another important ABVTEX initiative.

The hard work of the ABVTEX Committees and Work Groups enable a wide range of initiatives supporting fashion retail to go ahead.