abusesaffiliationarrow-downarrow-leftarrow-rightarrow-upattack-typeburgerchevron-downchevron-leftchevron-rightchevron-upClock iconclosedeletedevelopment-povertydiscriminationdollardownloademailenvironmentexternal-linkfacebookfiltergenderglobegroupshealthC4067174-3DD9-4B9E-AD64-284FDAAE6338@1xinformation-outlineinformationinstagraminvestment-trade-globalisationissueslabourlanguagesShapeCombined Shapeline, chart, up, arrow, graphLinkedInlocationmap-pinminusnewsorganisationotheroverviewpluspreviewArtboard 185profilerefreshIconnewssearchsecurityPathStock downStock steadyStock uptagticktooltiptwitteruniversalityweb
Article

4 Jul 2018

Author:
Laura Stefanut, BalkanInsight

Romania: Price pressure following Brexit threatens to worsen working conditions in garment industry, report finds

"Brexit Blues for Romania’s Embattled Garment Industry", 2 July 2018

[M]any of Romania’s roughly 4,500 textile factories – employing more than 200,000 people in one of the EU’s poorest countries – [...] relied heavily on British clients who paid in pounds...

Since Brexit, British brands have resisted passing the cost of the pound’s fall in value onto shoppers; in an industry where margins are tight and every penny counts, that has left some Romanian factories scrambling to increase production to cover lost earnings and searching for clients elsewhere in Europe, according to interviews with more than a dozen factory owners and industry leaders...

The increased price pressure threatens to worsen already often dire working conditions...

BIRN contacted a number of British fashion brands known to have contracts with Romanian factories to ask about pricing policy post-Brexit...

Of those that replied, Topshop said it was unable to provide any information while Debenhams said it only sourced 3 percent of its products from Romania and anyway could not comment on commercial agreements. Burberry, Arcadia Group and French Connection did not reply. [also refers to IKEA]

Timeline