Chair’s message:
It is increasingly obvious that ethical trade personnel need to work more closely with their commercial colleagues to ensure that buying practices do not adversely affect the impact that code implementation can have.
In my second full year as Chair of ETI, I have been heartened by the commitment of member organisations to tackling the challenge of implementing the ETI Base Code. This has been at a time when the market place is still hugely demanding and the drive to achieve even lower prices continues unabated. I believe this trend presents the single greatest challenge to code implementation that companies face. Continued pressure from buyers for lower prices and shortened lead times can be detrimental to ethical trading, and can prevent companies from improving the lives of workers in their supply chains. It is increasingly obvious that ethical trade personnel need to work more closely with their commercial colleagues to ensure that buying practices do not adversely affect the impact that code implementation can have. This issue has to be addressed, and I know that many of our members will focus on this in the coming year.
In our last annual report, I stressed that we would strengthen our assessment of the contribution of member organisations. We very much regret that two companies felt unable to meet their commitments to membership and offered their resignations. I am delighted, however, that we have attracted eight new corporate members, including two companies outside our traditional clothing, footwear and food areas. We will continue our membership drive in these new sectors in the coming year.
We have continued to enjoy Government support from the Department for International Development. Clare Short, the former Secretary of State, was an important driving force behind the development of ETI and a passionate advocate for ethical trading. We look forward to working with Hilary Benn and his colleagues at DFID in our shared goal of improving the lives of poorer workers and their families through the promotion of international labour standards.
ETI’s credibility, reputation and membership is growing. We have passed important milestones this year including the highly successful international conference, publication of the first edition of our Workbook and new learning about code implementation. Highlights of the year ahead will include the development of training courses, completion of the first year of our impact assessment and work on our new joint project with other, like-minded code initiatives.
I am confident that if we continue to harness the rich diversity of knowledge and perspectives within our membership, we will have a real impact on the lives of workers around the world.
Alan Roberts, Chair
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