Our Management Approach to Product Responsibility has not materially changed since our last Report except that we increasingly continue to shift our focus from introducing new fibers to making sure that we grow our AnvilOrganic® line and we focus on reducing the impacts of our conventionally grown Anvil® cotton line.  2010 was a year characterized by unprecedented cotton prices and overall challenges in sourcing quality organic cotton fiber in quantities necessary to fill demand in our Anvil brand and private label.

Product safety and integrity continue to be at the core of our manufacturing. From the beginning (when we carefully identify the fibers used to make our products) through the production stage (when we follow restricted substances lists and seek out certifications such as Oeko-Tex® Standard 100, which indicates our goods are tested to be free of harmful levels of certain chemicals) and through a product’s end use (when we work to educate consumers on how best to care for it, as well as recycle and reuse it), we are constantly seeking to make improvements to the overall life cycles of our products.  In 2010, we were one of 60 plus companies that road test WRI/WBCSD Greenhouse Gas Product Life Cycle Accounting and Reporting Standard and were featured in the final standard as a case study for accounting for recycling content (page 75 of GHG Protocol).  Our focus on product life cycle assessments of our products continued in 2011 and we have elected to report those results in this Report.

We continue to face challenges in distinguishing our products in the marketplace in view of the ever increasing number of eco labels and product claims.  As with our approach to social and environmental responsibility areas, our approach to product responsibility and integrity has been to select recognized product certifications or standards in the markets in which we compete and then educate our customers and end-consumers as to our selection standards.

Please read our responses to the Performance Indicator questions for more detail about what we accomplished thus far and where we believe we need to improve in the future. The results of our product life cycle assessments are discussed in our response to EN6 under the Energy Aspect of the Environment section of this report.