ETI biennial conferences attract an international audience and offer a platform for lively debate and sharing of experience. The May 2003 conference provided the opportunity for 320 participants to advance their understanding of key challenges.

The conference on Working together: multi-stakeholder initiatives and labour standards in global supply chains was widely praised for the ‘healthy level of disagreement’ and the openness of our member companies in sharing their learning and the challenges they are facing. Crucially, however, there was convergence on a set of principles that make up a core agenda for ethical trade in the coming years.

With a high number of overseas participants, the conference attracted 320 delegates and over 60 international experts presenting in 23 workshops and four plenary sessions. We learned from, for example, a Chilean co-operative wine producer, a Honduran women workers educator, a union leader from Pakistan, a garment supplier from Sri Lanka and an auditing NGO from India.

The conference gave participants insights into the current debates on best practice in code implementation and a chance to network with a wide variety of organisations. A plenary session on trading in China explained its myriad challenges, while a panel discussion between the key multi-stakeholder code initiatives (Clean Clothes Campaign, Fair Wear Foundation, Fair Labor Association, Social Accountability International, Worker Rights Consortium and ETI), highlighted common lessons.

The workshop sessions addressed specific issues in code implementation, including discrimination at the workplace, the links between overtime, pay and productivity, educating workers and the role of the private sector in remedying child labour.

Defining the issues

Despite the debates, there was broad consensus on the major principles that need to be addressed by ETI and others trying to carry ethical trade forward.

They included:

• Workers need more support to help themselves, especially through promoting freedom of association and collective bargaining;
• Companies must review purchasing practices that inhibit the improvement of labour conditions;
• The benefits of labour codes must be extended to workers in the informal economy;
• Auditing practice must improve; Codes should support not replace labour legislation;
• We need to develop a more robust business case for ethical trade;
• We need to educate consumers about the issues.

Key challenges in ethical trade - a report of the key themes and issues is available from the ETI Secretariat.