H&M Says Garments Made in Cambodian Factory Without Approval

Hennes & Mauritz AB, Europe’s second-biggest clothing retailer, said some H&M garments were produced without its knowledge or approval at a factory in Cambodia where workers were injured in a partial building collapse this week. A supplier of the Stockholm-based company placed two minor orders with an unapproved sub-supplier at the Hong Kong-owned Top World garment factory, H&M spokeswoman Anna Eriksson said today in an e-mailed response to questions. She said H&M has no business relations with the plant, where a shelter collapsed into a river injuring at least 23 people, according to Xinhua. … H&M isn’t the first retailer to discover its products are made in factories that escape its scrutiny as suppliers hire subcontractors without their knowledge when rushing to fill orders. When clothing bound for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) and Sears Holdings Corp. was found in the ruins of a fatal factory blaze in Bangladesh last year, the companies said their goods were manufactured there without their permission. …

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-22/h-m-says-garments-made-in-cambodian-factory-without-approval.html