A project set up two years ago to develop a converged assessment framework for social and labour compliance, with input from companies such as Nike and Timberland, has now entered the second stage of piloting.
The Social&Labor Convergence Project (SLCP) aims to move the apparel and footwear industry from excessive audits toward more sustainable social and labour improvements. Launched in October 2015, with the first prototype in February, the group has today (6 November) launched its second pilot.
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More than 160 signatories from leading stakeholders including the Netherlands Government, Williams-Sonoma, and Sri Lankan apparel body JAAF, have collaborated to develop the updated assessment.
The second prototype is a vast update from the first version, the SLCP says, in both content and functionality, with a verification methodology now integrated. This includes a data collection and verification tool, a protocol and guidance material.
The updated framework will be pilot tested in over 175 facilities across 23 countries over the coming months, ranging from Myanmar and China to Lesotho and Honduras. It will cover factories beyond Tier 1 and cover a range of facility sizes and product types.
SLCP says the growing number of participating signatories have gained confidence in the value and impact of the converged assessment framework and have strengthened their commitments to use it to replace current proprietary tools.
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By GlobalData“Over the past two years, a critical mass of organisations from all relevant stakeholder groups have come together to create a common assessment framework for social and labour conditions in the apparel and footwear supply chain,” says Abhishek Bansal, head of sustainability at Arvind Limited. “With the current progress, I believe we are on the right track to achieve the objective of converging and eliminating the current practice of replication of efforts.”
All aspects of the framework will be tested, including data collection with the tool by a facility assessment and the verification methodology by external parties.
Simultaneously, the SLCP will collect input from external stakeholders in a round of public consultation. All feedback will then be used to develop the third prototype of the converged assessment framework in early 2018. The final version is expected to be launched in May 2018.
“Our industry really needs to challenge its practices and tackle the duplication of audits and the resulting loss of valuable resources spent on these processes,” says Baptiste Carriere-Pradal, vice president at the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC). “Success in this project means unleashing resources to accelerate impact in our supply chain.”
