Production country
Serbia
Serbia is an EU candidate country with a strong textile, leather, and footwear sector characterised by small-scale production. While it has ratified Core ILO Conventions, some are not yet ratified. Risks remain in freedom of association, social dialogue, low wages, and health and safety.
Serbia is a middle-income country and an EU candidate since 2012. The country is the largest producer in textile, leather and footwear in the Adria region. With over 1000 companies, Serbia is known for small, fast-turnaround orders. The country has ratified the Core International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions, whic Fair Wear’s Code of Labour Practices are based on. Most of the country risks are related to freedom of association, socia dialogue and workplace harrasment. ILO Conventions 154, which promotes collective bargainaning, and 190, which asserts the right of everyone to a world of work free from violence and harassment, are not yet ratified. Other country risks relate to living wages and health and safety conditions.
It's textile sector is one of the few that is largely owned by domestic entrepreneurs.
Over 94,000 estimated garment workers
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Factories Fair Wear members source from
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Fair Wear member brands sourcing from the country
What Fair Wear is doing
How we work locally with partners to address risks and improve working conditions.
Due diligence requires companies to know what is happening in their supply chain. In Serbia, Fair Wear collaborates with local stakeholders to offer custom HREDD facilitation support to companies, such as verification activities.
Insight only creates change when you act on it. Fair Wear equips brands with a set of established training modules to raise awareness, address root causes and implement mechanisms for prevention, mitigation and remediation. In Serbia, companies can request Module 1 of the Fair Wear Onboarding Training for suppliers and workers, which focuses on awareness-raising on workers' rights.
Staying ahead of risks means knowing about them before they escalate. Fair Wear's grievance mechanism is available in Serbian, ensuring workers can raise concerns in their own language. The mechanism also extends support to workers in neighbouring North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia — providing an accessible, confidential channel across the region, with findings feeding into Fair Wear's work with brands and suppliers to address root causes.