Apparel industry urges collective readiness as EU due diligence rules loom

SLAEA Chairperson Rajitha Jayasuriya stresses CSDDD is structural shift in global trade, not just another regulation, with legal obligations across entire supply chains

- BY CHARUMINI DE SILVA

SRI Lanka Apparel Exporters Association (SLAEA) Chairperson Rajitha Jayasuriya recently called for urgent coordinated national action in response to the European Union's (EU) new Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), warning that the legislation marks a fundamental shift in how international trade will be governed going forward.

Addressing a multi-stakeholder awareness session convened to discuss the implications of the CSDDD, she stressed that the Directive's reach extends far beyond the apparel industry and will have sweeping consequences for Sri Lanka's export economy.

"This isn't another regulation—it's a structural transformation in global trade, placing legal obligations across the entire value chain," she explained.