These are the values which guide our company, our relationships and our business transactions. Responsible Sourcing is part of this, which is why EziBuy commits to an International Standard Code of Conduct as the basis of all sourcing operations and business transactions. In turn we expect our suppliers to respect our values and comply with our code.
We constantly review our approach to ensure products are made in a safe and fair working environment and that we are acting responsibly towards the people who make our products. This includes having an Ethical Policy and taking a direct approach to sourcing to enable greater transparency and tighter control as well as improved communication and long term collaboration with suppliers and factories.
This has its advantages. We can source from factories already working with influential ethical retailers or we can source through smaller operations where we can exert our own leverage to promote better working conditions.
In 2012 we embarked on a four year ethical program with China, where 85% of our product is made. Since then we have gained 100% transparency of our primary supply base through 70% direct apparel sourcing. We have also established a robust audit and reporting methodology and driven change through direct collaboration and training.
Our audit program is based on internationally accepted standards. We conduct confidential interviews with our workers giving them the opportunity to have their say and voice their opinions. We believe understanding their issues is the first step toward improving conditions and making timely changes for the better.
While there has been significant investment in developing EziBuy’s Ethical Sourcing Policy, we recognise there is more work to do. EziBuy is committed to making progress with our secondary supply chain to achieve continuous improvement. The EziBuy five year strategy will take us beyond 2020 with an approach that focuses on further industry and stakeholder collaboration.
Our Code of Conduct was developed. This set out our Ethical Trading Policy based on standards drawn from the ETI (Ethical Trade Initiative) and International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions. These requirements represent minimum standards, based on the principles of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The EziBuy Factory Audit Program covered approximately 50% of our suppliers, with 100% of suppliers submitting a declaration letter of compliance to the EziBuy Code of Conduct.
We launched our Factory Improvement Program hosting supplier workshops in Shanghai and a collaborative factory project in Nantong, both facilitated by an ethical sourcing global consultancy.
Subjects covered were: Business Case For Ethical Trade and Common Issues and Challenges; Practical Tips on The Big Issues: Child Labour and Wage; How to Build a Strong Health & Safety System.
EziBuy moved to Woolworths’ more comprehensive Ethical Audit and Supplier Onboarding Program. 100% of primary supply factories audited.
Introduced the Angora Rabbit Fibre Policy to prohibit the use of angora fibres in all products.
Introduced Uzbekistan Cotton Policy to prohibit the use of cotton from this country.
Further rollout of our Factory Improvement Program to ensure the sustainability of ethical compliance in our supply chain.
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EziBuy has a three-step process for approval of new suppliers of own and exclusive brands for offshore suppliers:
Step 1. Capability assessmentNew suppliers are required to complete the Supplier Capability Self-assessment for each of their production facilities. The Supplier Self-assessment questionnaire includes requirements for assessment of quality, ethical, financial and commercial capability.
Step 2. Site inspectionOur global sourcing or supplier approval staff conduct a physical site inspection as a preliminary validation of the self-assessment in Step 1. If we don’t have our own staff on the ground, we proceed to a factory ethical audit. Following a review of the factory inspection a decision is made if we should proceed to Step 3.
Step 3. Factory Ethical AuditA favourable factory inspection will lead to a EziBuy ethical sourcing audit depending on the country risk assessment. The ethical audit status is classified based on the severity of the non-compliances.
Our ethical sourcing audits are conducted by qualified and experienced third-party certification bodies (ie. auditors). EziBuy pre-qualified ethical audit certification bodies are:
We conduct the full scope of our Ethical Sourcing Audit for EziBuy brands made in high risk countries where human rights are at risk, bribery and corruption are widespread and the rule of law is not strong.
EziBuy operates a Country Risk Matrix developed from published third party global agencies as well as from customised data providers.
We have four risk levels in our Country Risk Matrix: Very High, High, Moderate and Low.
Facilities in countries rated Very High, High and Moderate are subject to the full scope of our ethical sourcing audit. Facilities in countries rated Low risk are exempt from our ethical sourcing audit based on their overall track record on human rights protections and good governance. We may conduct audits with specific focus if there are particular issues of concern in these Low risk countries.
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