Achievements of the Ethical Trading Initiative

ETI Press Room - Information Sheet

The Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), which was established in 1998 to improve the lives of workers and their families in global supply chains, has achieved the following since its inception:

• Grown our corporate membership from just a handful to 40 ¹ companies with a combined annual turnover of over £107 bn. Our company members apply the minimum labour standards of the ETI Base Code to over 30,000 suppliers, which collectively employ over 3.3 million workers across the globe.
  [The ETI Base Code]
• Demonstrated the impact of ETI members’ ethical trade activities on workers. In November 2006 we published a warts-and-all report of the impact of ETI members’ ethical trade activities, which provided independent evidence of widespread improvements in health and safety, a reduction in the incidence of child labour, better pay and reduced hours.
  [Reports on The ETI Impact Assessment, 2006]
• Trained nearly 200 ethical trade managers and other staff in companies, trade unions and campaigning organisations in the basic principles of ethical trade, how to deliver an effective ethical trade strategy, get crucial buy-in from colleagues and suppliers and engage with other stakeholders.
  [ETI Training Programme]
• Developed practical tools for companies to help companies implement their ethical trade strategies, including the ETI Workbook – a comprehensive guide to ethical trade for companies; a risk assessment toolkit; and guidelines for implementing the ETI Base Code with smallholders and with homeworkers.
  [ETI Workbook]
• Brokered resolutions to major trade union disputes in Bangladesh, Turkey, Cambodia and elsewhere. ETI has brought together supplier management, trade unions and member companies to the negotiating table to resolve major breaches of trade union rights in several supplier factories. Success stories include changed attitudes towards trade unions and reinstatement of trade union officials.
• Successfully lobbied for change in UK law to help protect up to 600,000 workers in the UK food industry. ETI led a cross-industry alliance that successfully campaigned for the introduction of statutory licensing for temporary labour providers and worked in close co-operation with the Gangmasters Licensing Authority to help labour providers prepare for licensing.
  [www.gla.gov.uk]
• Helped local organisations improve workers’ conditions. In India we are helping establish a groundbreaking agency focused on improving homeworkers’ conditions, using lessons learned in South Africa where we supported the development of the Wine Industry Ethical Trade Association (WIETA). WIETA is a multi-stakeholder organisation that seeks to inspect and improve labour conditions in the Western Cape wine industry:
  [www.wieta.org.za]
• Developed a common code for the global textile industry with other multi-stakeholder code initiatives (Workers’ Rights Consortium, the Fair Labour Association, the Clean Clothes Campaign, the Fairwear Foundation and Social Accountability International). The code is being tested in Turkey and in Bangladesh.
  [www.jo-in.org]

 

Notes:

1. As at May 2007.