As the issue of ethical fashion heats up in Australia, Zara is fielding allegations of labour rights abuses.
This latest revelation follows the release of Baptist World Aid Australia Fashion Report which named and shamed local and domestic retailers.
A latest report, released by not-for-profit research organisation SOMO and Repórter Brasil, claims Zara does not have sufficient sight of its supply chain.
After Brazilian authorities reached out to the fast fashion chain, coming to an agreement to carry out better and more frequent supplier inspections in order to avoid infringements.
The report cites lack of compliance with the aforementioned agreement as one of the core reasons to implicate Zara for potential labour rights abuses.
"The report by SOMO and Repórter Brasil reveals that Zara is still not monitoring its production chain sufficiently, and that the company is not living up to the reporting requirements specified in the agreement.
"This is confirmed by the recent report of the Brazilian labour inspection that Repórter Brasil had access to.
"According to this report sixty-seven suppliers were checked, and were found to be engaged in countless labour rights violations, such as excessive overtime and occupational health and safety violations."
Additionally the report said alleges that Zara is exercising irresponsible legal strategies to churn out garments at the standard pace of other mass produced chains.
"In recent years, Brazil's unique approach, combining inspections, prosecutions and making public the list of perpetrators, has rescued 45,000 people from situations that could accurately be described as modern-day slavery."
According to SOMO and Repórter Brasil, this legal strategy is inconsistent with Zara's corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy.
Whereas Inditex promises customers decent conditions under which its products are manufactured, in court, the company argues that it cannot offer any guarantees.