By Ariel Azoff of The SNSPost & Heartsleevesblog.com

As someone relatively new to learning about sustainability and the global garment industry, I was blissfully unaware of this thing called the Multi-Fibre Arrangement (MFA) until I read Kelsey Timmerman’s book Where Am I Wearing? a few months ago.  After that, I started to see those three letters all over the place (and no, I wasn’t researching fine arts graduate programs).  Turns out, it was an agreement put in place in 1974 and ended in 2005, the existence of which, and now lack thereof, affects the lives millions of garment workers around the world.

The MFA, in a nutshell, was an agreement that restricted exports of textiles to developed countries (US, Canada, and the EU) from developing countries (China, et al). Since 1974, import quotas had been applied to 73 countries in the global South, mostly in Asia, but starting in 1995 they were phased out.  The quota system was abolished completely in 2005, drastically changing the game for garment-producing countries.

So what happens now?

Well, production shifts based on competitive factors.  The fear in 2004 was that basically everything would move to China because of its infrastructure, abundance of raw materials, and cheap labor.  And it’s true, Chinese textile exports did skyrocket.  In 2000, 13% of US textile imports were from China, and in 2010 that number was 39.7%.

So how do the other countries compete with China?

A few different ways.  Some countries are able to compete by providing cheaper labor.  Let’s talk about Bangladesh.  Because it’s one of the poorest country in the world, Bangladesh wasn’t restricted by the MFA, making it able to compete with China whose exports were restricted.  But, because of the cheap labor, the garment industry in Bangladesh has done just fine, and is actually expected to double in size in the next eight years, according to Timmerman.

Latin American countries were worried about the post-MFA world as well.  And, while the region did lose business on the whole, some countries have been able to cope better than others.  The key seems to be upgrading technology in order to capitalize on proximity to the U.S.  American brands want reliable, full-service factories in Latin America that can fill small orders quickly.  Countries like Mexico figured this out, and were able to upgrade their garment industry to compensate for the loss of exports post-MFA.  Countries like Honduras, on the other hand, failed to adapt, and were much more negatively affected by the end of the quota system.  Nicaragua did ok because, like Bangladesh, labor there is dirt cheap.

Cambodia found its own unique way to compete in the altered industry.  As Timmerman explains, “They’ve positioned themselves as a producer of sweatshop-free products hoping to continue the industry’s growth by giving major garment buyers such as Levi’s confidence that their brand name won’t be tarnished.”

Speaking of sweatshops, what does all of this mean for garment workers? Again, different things in different countries.  China has added a lot of jobs, true, and those jobs pay more than their equivalents in Bangladesh and Cambodia.  But unlike Cambodia, there aren’t NGOs or international labor rights watchdogs monitoring working conditions in China.  So Chinese workers may be paid a higher wage, but literally do not have time to spend the money they make.  Just two weeks ago, Jon Stewart did a report on the exploitation of workers in China.

The upgrading in technology is also a mixed bag, because it necessitates more skilled labor and usually results in loss of jobs, especially for women.  Some countries, like Mexico, were able to absorb the former garment workers into other industries.  Others, like Sri Lanka, failed to do so, and unemployment rose despite the upgrade in technology and increase in exports.

This has been a very cursory glance at a very complicated issue, and a very general moral of this story seems to be: as the competitive landscape continues to change in the global garment industry, workforce education and enforcement of fair labor standards are integral to protecting the rights of garment workers around the world, and, by extension, the integrity of the clothes we wear.

Born and raised in Woodstock, Ariel Azoff is an adventurer and aspiring writer who spent the past year working for a human rights organization in the Middle East. She is a contributing writer to The SNSPost & Midthoughtblog.com, and now that she is back in the U.S. is delving into the world of sustainable fashion and blogging as she goes at Heartsleevesblog.com.