European fashion giants H&M and C&A, as well as technology company 3M, are looking into a report in the Financial Times alleging that inmates of a Chinese prison made packaging used by the companies...

C&A’s chief sustainability officer Jeffrey Hogue said the [...] company [...] took the allegations very seriously and was investigating.

“We have a zero tolerance policy for any form of modern slavery including forced, bonded or prison labor. If we detect a case, we immediately terminate our relationship with the supplier,” Hogue said in an emailed statement...

An H&M spokeswoman said the Swedish company was looking into the allegations, but could not yet say whether they were true...

“It is completely unacceptable placing manufacturing into prisons and it seriously violates the regulatory framework that our suppliers must follow,” the H&M spokeswoman said.

“A failure to comply would immediately lead to permanent termination of our business contract.”

3M, which also has policies prohibiting the use of forced labor, also said it was investigating the report.

“3M does not engage or participate in exploitative working conditions, and we are not aware of any 3M suppliers in China using prison labor,” a spokesman said.