Global Social Compliance Programme issues Reference Code to help companies work in partnership with NGOs to address the challenges of fair labor standards in the supply chain
Hong Kong — December 26, 2008 — The Global Social Compliance Programme (GSCP) has released a new Reference Code aimed at helping companies work in partnership with nongovernmental organizations to address the challenges of social justice in the supply chain.
GSCP is a program of CIES - The Food Business Forum, a global food business network that unites the CEOs and senior management of around 400 retailer and manufacturer members of all sizes, across 150 countries. CIES provides a platform for thought leadership, debate and networking between retailers and their partners.
The compliance program is intended to build consensus and best practices in labor standards in supply chains and to develop a consistent message for suppliers globally. GSCP was formed in December 2006 by Carrefour, Metro, Migros, Tesco and Wal-Mart. Since then, Hasbro, Hewlett Packard and Ikea have joined the executive board, and the program has over 23 company members at present.
The program's position is that the proliferation of various supplier codes, audit duplication and divergence of approach is causing inefficiency and slowing improvement in labor conditions in the supply chain. For retailers, brands and suppliers there is confusion over requirements and a lack of clarity on best practice and accountability, and there is a need for cross-industry collaboration to bring about consistency and efficiency.
In response, GSCP is building a set of reference tools (the Reference Code, audit system and methodology, auditor competence) that describe best practices and provide a common interpretation of fair labor requirements and their implementation. It is aimed at helping retailers and brand manufacturers around the world, in whatever industry, to work towards mutual recognition of audit results.
The objective is to provide a clear and common set of requirements for all suppliers of consumer goods in terms of fair labor conditions in the global supply chain.
Speaking from a GSCP board meeting in Hong Kong, the program's chairman, Terry Babbs, from Tesco, said: "We are aware of the challenges around human rights, social standards and compliance in our supplier companies. In response we have joined together in an attempt to deliver a shared, global and sustainable approach for the improvement of working conditions in the global supply chain."
Speaking about the program, Rajan Kamalanathan, vice president for ethical standards at Wal-Mart, said: "We are committed, at Wal-Mart, to building an environmentally and socially responsible supply chain. Responsible sourcing is a priority for Wal-Mart, and we are building strong partnerships toward this aim. The Global Social Compliance Programme (GSCP) will provide us with a single framework from which to base collaborative efforts, leading to strengthened collaboration and measurable improvement for people and the environment."
A Supplier's Viewpoint
Arshad Jamal, chairman of Tusuka Fashions, a 9,000-employee apparel supplier based in Gazipur, near Dhaka in Bangladesh, and a supplier for some of the world's leading retailers and brand manufacturers, including Carrefour and Tesco, said that he strongly supports the idea of harmonization but believes that it remains a significant challenge.
"Multiple audits and variable customer policies can make it very difficult for us," said Jamal. "We find that our customers are different in their approach. Some are interested in social issues, others in security, technical or quality issues. We would very much like to be able to take control ourselves of social rights. I call it the internalization of rights. We should do this in partnership with our own workers. The current approach means there are many versions of what we should do — and none of them are ours."
Jamal said that the program has helped his company as customers have introduced Tusuka to local partners to help implement change. "Also, we would like our customers to improve their understanding of our local laws that we believe are quite appropriate, for example, on water usage, factory lighting and floor space. Talking about these kinds of issues means we sometimes do not concentrate on more important ones; such as safety, overtime or wages. That's a message we would like to take to all our customers."
The Global Social Compliance Programme issued its statement on the Reference Code earlier in December to market the sixtieth anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
