Harvard University is committed to an effective and enforceable anti-sweatshop policy, with the objective that clothing bearing Harvard's name be manufactured under safe and humane working conditions. Over the past several months, we have engaged in discussions with our students, with other institutions, and with manufacturing representatives to shape a policy that will bring us to that important goal.

There is broad agreement that any anti-sweatshop code must contain assurances on such matters as a prohibition of child labor, compliance with local labor and safety laws, and the rights of workers to organize. Another issue is whether our policy should require that licensees disclose the locations of the factories in which Harvard-licensed goods are made.

Harvard is committed to full public disclosure of factory names and locations. Any anti-sweatshop policy that we adopt must include such a requirement. Full disclosure must be an integral part of the standards we apply in determining whether our licensees and their contractors are complying with an effective sweatshop code. Failure to comply with a disclosure requirement, like failure to comply with other provisions of a code, will be taken into account as we decide whether to begin or continue relationships with licensees.

We recognize that disclosure raises sensitive issues for licensees and manufacturers, and we are committed to working with them to resolve those issues in a mutually acceptable way. The purpose of a code is to improve working conditions, and we recognize that improvements may take time. Licensees whose operations do not yet fully comply with anti-sweatshop standards will be expected to show tangible, substantial and continuing progress toward full achievement of those standards as a condition of new or renewed licensing agreements.

We have been exploring for some months with our sister institutions in the Ivy Group the prospect of cooperative action toward adoption of effective anti-sweatshop policies. Decisions on those issues will be made shortly. We have also been represented on a national task force under the auspices of the Association of Collegiate Licensing Administrators (ACLA), and we will continue to participate in those discussions.

We have been meeting informally for several months with students, whose advice and perspective have been important in shaping the University's response to these issues, and we look forward to continued consultations with them.

We recognize that students feel strongly that any effective anti-sweatshop policy should require that workers be paid a living wage. There is as yet no consensus on how a living wage is to be defined. Harvard will work with students and others who are seeking to resolve this issue, and will support efforts by others to define a living wage in these circumstances.

We hope to be able to announce our policies shortly, following the conclusion of discussions with other Ivy colleges and universities.