Sedex – the non-profit organisation working with buyers, suppliers and auditors to improve global supply chains – and BSCI – the business-driven initiative supporting retailers, importers and brands to improve working conditions in supplying factories and farms worldwide – have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to co-develop projects and programmes that enhance the sustainability efforts of their memberships. The partnership will see the two organisations working together, leveraging their joint strengths to drive scale within the responsible sourcing industry, and creating numerous benefits for the memberships of both.
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Within the overall aims of reducing duplication of efforts, driving scale and setting the grounds for an active collaboration, the MoU outlines a number of focus areas for immediate attention, which includes human trafficking, shared capacity building, continuous improvement of labour relations, audit quality metrics, data collaboration, and working group collaboration.
“After months of discussion, it is with great excitement that we announce the collaboration between Sedex and BSCI”, commented Jonathan Ivelaw-Chapman, Sedex CEO, adding, “While the two organisations have historically been competitors, both recognise that simplification and collaboration – core values of Sedex and BSCI – are absolutely crucial to the development of the responsible supply chain industry as a whole.”
“Although both organisations will remain separate entities with separate memberships, goals and objectives, we are looking forward to leveraging the considerable market size of both BSCI and Sedex to effect positive change in the industry”, commented Christian Ewert, FTA Director General. “We are confident that this MoU will be the start of a long and fruitful relationship for BSCI, Sedex, and the companies that make up our global memberships,” Ewert added.
