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Daily CSR

Daily CSR
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Fair Trade USA Joins Walmart List For Third Party Audit Support To Consumer Compliance



06/29/2020

APS compliance requirements of Fair Trade USA sets the compliance requirements of Walmarts’ supply chain.


Dailycsr.com – 29 June 2020 – In North America, Fair Trade USA holds popular place as a “certifier of fair trade products”, whereby the organisation proudly revealed about its addition to the “acceptable third-party social audit programs for supplier compliance” list of Walmart. Likewise, the “responsible sourcing program” of Walmart will adding the “Fair Trade Certified” sites without any “additional audits”.
 
The press release of the Fair Trade USA informed:
“Walmart’s Global Supplier Compliance Team reviewed how the Fair Trade USA program covers a variety of issues, including worker compensation, worker health and safety, and forced and child labor.  The organizations collaborated closely to make enhancements and share best practices across the programs for the benefit of the global supply chain”.
 
While, Walmart’s website tells us that the company aims to promote “responsible sourcing practices” as a leader across its supply chain by taking advantage of its “size and scale” in order to drive “positive change around the world”. The only way to achieve the goal is to become active partners of suppliers so bring up the “sourcing standards”. The “Agricultural Production Standard”, in short APS, part of Fair Trade USA, decides the “requirements for Fair Trade USA Certified™ agricultural production systems globally”.
 
In doing so, it takes into account “diverse groups and sizes of farms” along with other “processing facilities” link to the same and puts them under “one Standard. Depending to the facilities and farms, the audit is carried out. Here are the six modules of the “APS compliance requirements”, which have been “grouped thematically” as mentioned by Fair Trade USA press release:
  • “Empowerment
  • “Fundamental Rights at Work
  • “Wages, Working Conditions and Access to Services
  • “Biodiversity, Ecosystem Function, and Sustainable Production
  • “Traceability and Transparency
  • “Internal Management System”
 
In the words of the founder as well as the chief executive officer of Fair Trade USA, Paul Rice:
“Walmart is in a unique position to drive positive change across entire supply chains and industries. We are optimistic that being added to their list of accepted audits will open doors for so many of our existing partners and lead to much greater visibility and growth of Fair Trade Certified products in Walmart stores.”
 
 
 
References:
3blmedia.com