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[sophiaserpentia]

The chief of the McArchons is a little less evil today:

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will start holding its suppliers more accountable for environmental and social standards at foreign factories as public expectations in the United States rise, Chief Executive Lee Scott said Thursday.

... Scott said Wal-Mart would be more involved in its suppliers' businesses to make sure they are accountable. The company will work with them to find new products that meet demand for higher standards, such as new clothing lines made from organically grown cotton that Wal-Mart plans to sell next year.

"Are you running your factories in a way that promotes environmental sustainability? Are you sourcing from people that causes there to be inclusion and opportunity for women and minority owned businesses?" Scott said.

... "The factories in China are going to end up having to be held up to the same standards as the factories in the U.S.," Scott said. "There will be a day of reckoning for retailers. If somebody wakes up and finds out that children that are down the river from that factory where you save three cents a foot in the cost of garden hose are developing cancers at a significant rates so that the American public can save three cents a foot, those things won't be tolerated, and they shouldn't be tolerated."

from Wal-Mart to Toughen Overseas Standards