NIKE, LEVI'S HOLD JOINT COMPLIANCE SUMMIT

DISCUSS PROTECTION OF WORKERS, CONSUMERS AND ENVIRONMENT

The Nike Compliance ESH (Environment, Safety & Health) and Considered Chemistry team co-hosted, with Levi Strauss & Co., the first ever "ESH/RSL Summit" in Dongguan, China in April. More than 400 representatives from the brands and contract factories came together to share best practices and build awareness around current programs and expectations. The event was unique in that it was the first time such a large gathering of contract factory representatives across two of the industry's largest brands have come together to learn about worker, consumer and environmental protection.

"Collaboration across the Nike and Levi Strauss Brands offers us the opportunity to raise understanding of chemicals and ESH. Having multiple brands, government agencies, NGOs, and factories all on the same page leads to broader protection of our consumers, the workers, and the environment," said John Frazier, Nike’s Director of Product Chemistry & ESH. "We look forward to even broader industry collaboration in these important areas."

Nike and Levi's presentation topics included Supplier Ownership, ROI, Chemical Management, Water Conservation, Product Chemistry and Waste Stewardship. There were also several guest speakers who provided informative dialogue related to current and future trends around workplace and product safety requirements including RSL (Restricted Substances List). Some of the guest speakers included: Ms. Huang Ni Shan, government Director of Workplace Safety from the Guangdong Province, Ms. Pei Bin from the Asia Foundation and Mr. Zhang Peng from the National Textile and Garment Quality Supervision Testing Center.

In addition to Nike and Levi contract factory representatives, several of our affiliates (Converse, Cole Haan & Hurley) and their contract factory representatives also attended.  

Similar events are tentatively in the works for Bangkok in FY09 and in the Americas & EMEA regions in future years.