Why do I have to go through so many audits?

Life would be much easier if one audit was acceptable for all! There are many reasons why buying companies like to do their own audits. These include:

• There is no single internationally agreed code of labour practice. Although many companies - particularly those in the UK - follow the ETI Base Code, some follow other codes that have been developed by different ‘labour standards initiatives'.
• Even where companies are auditing against the Base Code they often tag these audits on to quality and environmental audits.
• Audit methodologies are by no means 100% reliable - we often hear of cases where a supplier may be found compliant in one area by one buying company, while another will find  them non-compliant. Buying companies often don't trust other peoples' audit reports for that reason.