Pulling back the curtain: How ETI members are reporting on human rights

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Today, the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) takes a significant step forward in its transparency journey by publicly sharing how our company members are performing against the Corporate Transparency Framework (CTF).  

Why does this matter? Because when companies are asked to report publicly on their human rights due diligence, the result is not just better reporting, but heightened attention and resources, leading to real improvements for supply chain workers.   

What is the Corporate Transparency Framework?  

Launched in 2021, the CTF sets out minimum public reporting requirements for ETI company members. Since 2022, full members have submitted annual evidence against these requirements. ETI reviews each submission, shares detailed feedback, and supports members to continually improve.  

The framework covers key areas of human rights due diligence such as: 

  • Human rights risk identification 
  • Supply chain disclosure (including tier one suppliers) 
  • Respect for trade union rights  
  • Governance and accountability on labour rights 

You can explore the full list of CTF minimum requirements here.

Why supply chain transparency matters 

In 2024, ETI took an additional step by mandating all full members publish their tier one supplier data on Open Supply Hub (OS Hub), a global open-source platform to improve supply chain transparency and drive progress on human rights.  

The result? 

  • 35% of full members published tier one supplier data on OS Hub for the first time in 2024 
  • By 2025, 79% of full company members were publishing on OS Hub. 

This shift is already having an impact - making supplier data more accessible for civil society, workers’ organisations, and other stakeholders, and enabling collective action on shared risks. 

Bar chart describing good progress over 4 years

Making company member performance public 

For the first time, we are publishing company performance against the CTF on our website.  

Why? 

Accountability: By sharing this information in the public domain, we aim to strengthen company member accountability and drive continuous progress. 

Collaboration: Public disclosure enables peers, NGOs and trade unions to identify leaders, gaps and opportunities for collaboration. 

Learning: In publishing member performance year on year, we aim to help track progress, share good practice and inform support. 

What the data shows 

ETI company members are making meaningful strides. Progress has been made year on year with an increasing number of members meeting the minimum requirements and disclosing their first tier supply chains. Since reporting began, company members met: 60% of total minimum requirements in 2022, 74% in 2023, and 83% in 2024. 

Bar chart describing good progress over 3 years

Not only has it improved the level of transparency, members’ are now demonstrating better understanding of human rights due diligence including:  

  • Understanding of what a salient risk is  
  • How to effectively identify and prioritise risk  
  • How to set out their approach to respecting freedom of association and collective bargaining
  • How to mitigate risks in supply chains  

10 minimum requirements of ETI's Corporate Transparency Framework

1.1 Publish a statement articulating your company’s commitment to respect labour rights in its...

1.1 Publish a statement articulating your company’s commitment to respect labour rights in its supply chain activities, in line with the ETI Base Code. 

1.2 Set out internal governance and accountability structures for managing human rights in supply chains. 

1.3 Describe how you have identified and prioritised human rights risks in your operations or supply chains. 

1.4.1 A description of your supply chain  

1.4.2 The geographical spread of production and/or sourcing  

1.4.3 Locations of highest risk  

1.4.4 A list of first tier suppliers  

1.4.5 A list of first tier suppliers on Open Supply Hub 

1.5 Describe the company’s approach with regard to respect for trade union rights including respect for freedom of association and collective bargaining.  

1.6 Report on salient risks identified and plans made to mitigate risk. 

We have seen progress from ETI company members against all the CTF minimum requirements over the last three years. ETI introduced a new minimum requirement in 2024, asking company members to publish their tier one supply chains on OS Hub - you can see this new requirement in the graph below under 1.4.5. Overall, we have seen an average improvement rate of 28% across all the minimum requirements since reporting began in 2022. 

Bar chart describing good progress over 3 years

[Requirement 1.4.5 was introduced in 2024 - while data was collected in 2022 and 2023 publication of tier one supply chains on OS Hub was not required or assessed by ETI until 2024.]

What’s next? 

This is just the beginning. 

As ETI develops its 2030 strategy, we’ll continue to strengthen our focus on transparency - supporting company members to conduct and report on meaningful human rights due diligence, in alignment with their responsibilities under the UN Guiding Principles and new legislation, and most importantly drive real change for workers.  
 
Transparency isn’t a tick-box - it’s a tool for transformation. And we’re proud to be making member performance in this area public. 

Take a look, below.

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ETI member transparency: Assessing companies' human rights reporting

How are ETI company members performing gainst ETI's Corporate Transparency Framework?
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ETI's blog covers issues at the intersection of business and human rights. We feature posts by, for and from our members and allies; we do not accept or offer payment for posts or publish content outside of these criteria. We welcome a range of insights and opinions from our guest bloggers, though don't necessarily agree with everything they say.