Basic introduction to BSCI certification

A plan to implement a joint supervision system of social standards for retail, industry and importers and to improve the fulfillment of social responsibilities in the countries where suppliers are located was initiated by the Foreign Trade Association (FTA).

1. Introduction of BSCI certification system

At present, there is more and more discussion about the human rights situation, all focusing on the situation in developing countries or newly industrialized countries that produce consumer goods. In industrialized countries, improving the social standards of producing countries that provide their retailers has become a very important agenda for many companies. The problems of suppliers all over the world include: child labor, forced labor, lack of safety in the workplace, low wages, interference in the establishment of labor unions, obstruction of the work of employee representatives, excessively long working hours, and excessive overtime. Long and the various forms of discrimination that may exist. In order to solve these problems, companies, traders and industry associations from retail and industry in Europe and around the world have formulated codes of conduct. These codes are usually based on the major labor conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and are used to improve working conditions in supplier countries. Many countries have established monitoring systems for these codes of conduct, including: Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Canada. The purpose of these codes of conduct and related monitoring systems are very similar, and even their content is similar. Numerous standards make it difficult for retailers to bear their social responsibilities. Their suppliers face the same situation; they have to meet more and more requirements and audit procedures. Therefore, concerted action is urgently needed in retail and industry.

With the increasing international attention to these issues, it becomes more urgent to formulate common actions. Many international organizations have taken the initiative to submit this issue for internal discussion, such as the United Nations’ Global Action Plan, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)’s Multinational Enterprise Principles, and the World Trade Organization (WTO). Consider adding social standards to multilateral trade regulations.

The European Commission also issued a joint communiqué on social issues in 2002. Some companies and associations, such as the Foreign Trade Association, also participated in discussions and initiated actions. However, the European retail industry emphasizes the principle of voluntariness rather than enforcement, and abides by the corresponding governmental and organizational regulations in the international community. Since 2002, the Foreign Trade Association (FTA), headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, has been committed to establishing a common platform for many different codes of conduct and supervision systems in Europe, and laying a solid foundation for the establishment of a common European supervision system. During the two years of 2002 and 2003, major retail companies and associations held several seminars to establish the framework of this type of system. In March 2003, the FTA formally established the Business Compliance Initiative (BSCI) with the purpose of formulating implementation measures and procedures for European business communities to comply with the social responsibility plan.

2. Advocate the business community to comply with socially responsible organizations

a) Goal

Improving the social standards of the country where the supplier is located is part of the company's social responsibility as a member of the global economy. This will be a long-term and enduring process shared by suppliers, governments, and other stakeholders in the countries where the suppliers are located.

Serve as a communication bridge between companies, employee representatives, NGOs, and other groups in civil society. A common monitoring system helps consumers believe that the retail industry has adopted a socially responsible attitude. The excellent transparency of the system enables it to gain internal and public credibility.

Provide an internationally accepted and feasible monitoring system designed to help suppliers comply. Member companies and associations should treat suppliers as partners in this process. The action involves a variety of consumer products, but currently mainly focuses on textiles, clothing, footwear and toys. BSCI does not intend to replace other verification systems.

Bring economic advantages to suppliers and retail companies. By implementing a common social standard supervision system in the supplier's production site, not only can it avoid duplication and redundant audits, but also save time and costs. Compliance with social responsibility standards can also improve supplier productivity and product quality, and high-quality products can also make retailers more competitive.

Serve as a platform for the exchange of knowledge and opinions among BSCI members. BSCI hopes to combine the extensive experience and professional opinions of participants.

BSCI is committed to cooperating with other similar systems. This cooperation can take the same action or the form of mutual recognition. BSCI believes that it is a member of the international community committed to bringing sustainable improvements to the social conditions of the world's supply chains.

b) Organization BSCI is a non-profit organization headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. All European and non-European companies or associations can become members of BSCI. BSCI is mainly to provide solutions for the retail industry, but it is also open to importers and manufacturers of various consumer goods to join.

There are two types of membership, namely formal membership and informal membership. Regular members are retailers, traders and manufacturers that actively participate in and include their suppliers in the BSCI qualification and review procedures. Informal members are any companies, associations and organizations that are interested in the process but are not directly involved. The member board of directors has the right to decide to accept and expel the membership of BSCI members. Any member who intends to withdraw from BSCI can submit a written notice six months before the end of each year.

Once joining, members must promise to support and promote BSCI and its goals in general. In particular, it promises to audit its suppliers and incorporate them into the procedures for compliance with social responsibility. This review and inclusion should be carried out within a reasonable time frame, which is agreed upon by the members and the representative committee. Members are obliged to pay dues in accordance with the BSCI payment system. If you do not comply with or fail to fulfill your membership obligations, your membership may be cancelled.

Only regular members have the right to vote.

BSCI consists of the following main parts:

Member of the board of directors:

The member board is composed of all formal and informal members. The board of directors meets at least twice a year and is mainly responsible for formulating long-term plans and making strategic decisions. The main scope of responsibility includes budget, activities, procedures and structure. Conventional decisions are passed by a simple majority. Decisions involving existing decisions, such as the structure of BSCI, can only be passed with a two-thirds majority.

The member board of directors can set up working groups to deal with special issues. A permanent working group is the leading group. The leading group is responsible for formulating the relevant system and its components, making specific recommendations, and then submitting them to the member board of directors. Each participating country has a representative to participate in the leading group. Other persons with relevant professional knowledge will also be invited to attend the meeting of the leading group.

consultant Committee:

The advisory committee represents most of the parties concerned with social interests, mainly composed of representatives of trade unions, non-governmental organizations, suppliers, import and export business associations, the European Commission, the International Labor Organization (ILO) and a United Nations "Global Action Plan "Representative composition. The advisory committee meets twice a year to make recommendations on the supervision of social standards and BSCI's own problems. The advisory committee also handles complaints arising from BSCI audit activities. The appointment period for the members of the advisory committee is two years. Can be appointed three times for a total of six years. Representative Committee:

The representative committee shall consist of at least three senior members of the representative member board of directors and a representative of the secretariat. Representatives of the member boards are appointed by the member boards, which should reflect the country and geographical distribution of the member boards. The representative committee is the official representative of the government and other institutions in public. It will issue announcements on a regular basis. The representative committee is held as often as necessary, but at least twice a year. All decisions were passed by a simple majority vote.

The representative committee may elect a member to serve as the spokesperson. The spokesperson must be a representative of a company.

The members of the committee are held every two years (BSCI certified experts). Can be elected as a member three consecutive times for a total of six years.

Secretariat:

The secretariat is affiliated to the Foreign Trade Association. Its main task is to handle the administrative work of the organization, including:

– Organize the BSCI supervision process – Prepare for the meetings of the member boards and representative committees – Develop and implement the management measures proposed by the member boards – Clarify the issues raised by the member companies and associations participating in the action – Manage the BSCI database – Use BSCI as an external representative ( ICTI Audit Expert) to provide assistance to the Representative Committee-Public Relations

c) budget

BSCI uses membership fees paid by members and donations from third parties as funding for its activities. The member board decides the annual budget and dues.

3. Principles BSCI's social requirements are based on relevant:

– Relevant International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions – UN Convention on the Rights of the Child – UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination – UN Declaration of Human Rights – Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Principles for Multinational Enterprises

In addition to the above principles, some basic environmental requirements (Wal-Mart factory inspection experts) are also included in the BSCI requirements. In addition to the audit requirements made by member companies, further ecological aspects and other production-related requirements may be included in the supervisory audit procedures.

4. Review the company’s participation conditions

At present, only independent audit companies that have passed the SAI qualification level appraisal and selected by BSCI will be entrusted to implement BSCI social responsibility audits. This guarantees better audit quality while avoiding expensive and bureaucratic identification methods.

In addition to SAI certification, audit companies selected by FTA to implement BSCI social responsibility supervision must meet certain prerequisites and comply with certain conditions.

– The selected audit company must exist in the area where the more important suppliers are located, and have enough agencies to implement supervision and audit activities. This is a necessary condition for both regional specific experience and optimization of the audit process. – The audit company must sign a written contract with BSCI, and formulate the contract terms for the cooperation between the two parties. – The following BSCI clauses must be complied with: • BSCI audits can only be implemented when entrusted by BSCI member companies or suppliers • BSCI questionnaires and guidelines must be used in the audit process • Audit results must be comprehensively recorded in writing and can be verified – Auditors and auditing companies must cooperate with local NGOs and employee representatives-the hired auditors must be of high quality, ready to receive regular training, and SAI's further education and qualification level appraisal. At the same time, they must: • be independent, fair and honest • be ready to carry out regular inspections at any time • have professional experience in related fields, such as social responsibility audits, workplace safety, quality management, etc. • be familiar with local business and language • have an excellent mind Quality, interpersonal and communication skills-audit results are only available to the company under review and related BSCI member companies.

5. Audit performance Before accepting the audit, the supplier should submit the existing audit report and certificate to the audit company. If you submit a valid SA8000 certification related to the scope of BSCI or a certificate with equivalent recognition, you do not need to conduct any audit measures again. If the supplier is currently undergoing SA8000 certification or certification of similar standards, the same applies.

Principles: The audit is conducted in accordance with the regulations in the BSCI management manual and audit guidelines. The purpose of the audit is to assist the supplier to improve its social standards. In order to ensure consistent application of BSCI goals and principles, BSCI audit questionnaires must be used in all audit processes.

program:

a) The procedure is based on the principles set out in the BSCI Code of Conduct. It includes all relevant social responsibility and environmental requirements. Confirmation and implementation of the BSCI Code of Conduct is a basic condition of the contract between BSCI members and suppliers. Suppliers and their subcontractors must accept the code of conduct as part of the contract and implement it.

b) If deficiencies are found during the audit, the auditing company must discuss with the audited company a mutually agreed corrective plan and record it. Corrective actions taken for non-conformance problems in Part B of the audit questionnaire are mandatory. The implementation of the corrective actions formulated for the problems in Part C is a voluntary option, but the suggestions may help meet the standards of SA8000 or related certification.

c) The audit requirements are proposed by BSCI member companies or by the suppliers themselves. Audit companies that are certified as qualified by SAI must use BSCI audit questionnaires, BSCI audit reports and BSCI audit guidelines. The entire audit process consists of three parts:-A-main information-B-BSCI social responsibility requirements-C-best practices in the industry, such as SA8000 or equivalent certification schemes. Currently, BSCI recognizes SA8000 as its best practice.

d) The procedure starts with supplier self-assessment. The assessment provides initial information about the supplier's supply chain and supplier performance, and defines the priority and urgency of further audits.

e) The correction and improvement of supplier's problems are carried out by BSCI members, their representatives and/or the supplier themselves. The timing and extent of the implementation of corrective measures are determined by the BSCI members themselves, partly based on the special nature of the required measures. The termination of the commercial relationship between the BSCI member and the supplier is the next solution, but if the supplier fails to comply with the due obligations set out in part B of the audit within the agreed reasonable period, then the termination of the commercial relationship is inevitable.

f) The audit results should be provided to suppliers and BSCI member companies, and may be discussed among them, and certain information about suppliers will be kept in the BSCI database.

g) The method of payment of expenses incurred in the monitoring process of review, improvement activities and implementation of necessary corrective measures shall be directly discussed by BSCI members and their suppliers.

h) The audit procedure shall be repeated every 3 years, starting with the initial audit. For suppliers that have passed SA8000 or other recognized relevant standards, the frequency of supervision and certification required depends on the requirements of their respective systems.

i) The BSCI supervision system will establish a complaint mechanism. Establish a local roundtable discussion meeting with stakeholders. These meetings will be used to discuss and disclose complaints in the BSCI monitoring system activities. For complaints related to certification of other standards, it is necessary to consult the complaint mechanism of the relevant certification body.

6. Promote sustainable improvement processes in supplier countries

The ultimate goal of BSCI is to promote sustainable improvement in supplier countries. Governments, trade associations, trade unions, non-governmental organizations and other civil organizations should be responsible for improving the social standards of their countries. These organizations should take on the burden of improvement and apply relevant processes to them. Roundtable discussions or other platforms for exchanges and cooperation can help achieve this goal. BSCI will encourage and promote all efforts made to these goals in the supplier country.

BSCI will also support:

– Further training supplier management and its employees – Guiding and consulting retail company management – In supply and retail companies, training internal auditors, supply chain managers and purchasers – Providing better practices and business case analysis Learning materials-financially support suppliers to implement and improve social standards

Improvements can be achieved in the following ways:

– BSCI member companies and/or service providers monitor suppliers, provide guidance and grant qualifications – Train, guide and consult within BSCI member companies – Attract local business associations and other local stakeholders to participate – initiate and assist in the establishment Local support structure – encourage government action, bilateral development assistance, and involve international organizations

7. BSCI's partners BSCI's partners include the European Commission and all government agencies involved in BSCI funds or any other specific support.