SMETA audit – SEDEX

The Supplier Ethical Data Exchange (Sedex) is a not-for-profit membership organisation for businesses committed to the continuous improvement of ethical performance within their supply chains. Sedex was founded in 2001 by a group of UK retailers to drive convergence in social audit standards and monitoring practices. This platform stores data on responsible business practices and allows the sharing of ethical performance information with multiple Brands & Customers.

SMETA (Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit) was developed by the Sedex Associate Auditor Group. SMETA - is a Standard used for Ethical Trade Audits. Two key purposes of this Sedex audit are transparency and sustainable improvement. Audits are based on ETI (Ethical Trade Initiative) Base Codes which includes implementation of Environment, Health & Safety, Business Ethics and Labour Standards in the supply chain.

ETI Base Code is founded on the conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on labour practices. Requirements of SEDEX Audits are based on ETI principles and include:

These audits have gained popularity as brands and retailers seek to partner with suppliers that participate in SEDEX to ensure ethical trading and corporate social responsibility. Our expert auditors conduct on-site SMETA audits at factories around the globe to assess how labour, health and safety, environmental and business ethics standards are being met. Sedex members are then allowed to store, share and report on this information in a secure, online database in an effort to improve working conditions in the global supply chain.

Benefits for your organization:

  • Improve your company’s reputation
  • Competitive advantage
  • Reduction of Risk
  • Improve Working conditions
  • Improvement of supplier relationships
  • One instead of several audits

There are two types of audit under SMETA- 2 pillar audit and 4 pillar audit.

  • The 2 pillar audit comprises of labour standards and health & safety.
  • The 2 pillar audit has requirements for the environment, but this is based on the law of the country.
  • The 4 pillar audit comprises of an additional two areas: environment and business integrity.