The Social & Labor Convergence Program’s Converged Assessment Framework (CAF) is the most promising road to successfully reducing duplicative social auditing, the Standard Convergence Initiative (SCI) has said.
- In a manifesto titled 'Putting Audit and Standard Fatigue back on centre stage and aligning on the Common Assessment Framework, the two constituents of the SCI—the International Apparel Federation (IAF) and the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF)—have said that working with third-party standard holders rather than using proprietary standards should, in the vast majority of cases, be the preferred option for brands and retailers.
- The SCI aims to encourage alignment between industry & multi-stakeholder Initiatives as well as brand or retailer proprietary tools to help combat audit and standard fatigue in the textile and footwear sector.
THE PROGRESS MADE BY SLCP: Since its launch in 2019, the SLCP has scaled rapidly, with over 7,000 facilities worldwide choosing to complete an SLCP verified assessment in 2022 alone. Over 70 brands and retailers publicly committing to accept SLCP verified data from their suppliers.
- The 2022 BBPPI findings show that most suppliers whose buyers accept SLCP are saving at least $5,000 annually per buyer, and reinvesting these savings in workplace improvements.
- Manaus, a social impact research consultancy, validated the existing methodology to calculate the costs saved as a result of implementing the CAF. The result was reaffirming, with an estimated $23 million saved by facilities in 2022 as a result of the reduction in audits.
- Several standard initiatives now accept SLCP verified data or have incorporated the CAF into their standard/system. Examples include the Higg FSLM and Fair Trade USA.
- SLCP is now working closely with the Fair Wear Foundation (FWF) to align so that FWF brands can use SLCP’s data as part of their broader human rights due diligence approach.
PROBLEM AREAS: Despite the existing impact, more can be done to further ease the audit burden on suppliers and manufacturers. Reducing audit fatigue is not so difficult; instruments are in place. But currently the progress is too slow because too many brands & retailers and MSIs are not yet using these tools.
- SCI calls on more brands and retailers to drop their proprietary standards in favour of working with third party standard holders. If this is not an option, SCI calls on more brands and retailers to make the switch to converged schemes such as SLCP to further maximize the potential savings and benefits for facilities.
- SCI is also calling on standards holders to heighten their efforts to reduce both audit and standard fatigue, sometimes in a combined fashion. SCI’s research performed by ITC suggests great overlap between the main social standards and highlights the opportunity for making big strides in the reduction of standard fatigue.
