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SAI Brazil: Notes from the Field
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Alice Tepper Marlin's Visit to Brazil to Observe SAI's Brazil Programs
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On May 8-15, SAI
President Alice Tepper Marlin visited São Paulo, as part of SAI's development of
a Brazil
country program. SAI officially launched its presence in Brazil on April 14, when SAI and its local representatives
BSD Consulting rolled out the PDS series for interested companies at FIPE
(Foundation of Economic Research) in São
Paulo. [see below]
During her visit, Ms. Tepper Marlin also visited Rio de
Janeiro, where she was the keynote speaker of a stakeholder
engagement event organized by the Federation of Industries of the state of Rio de Janeiro (Firjan)
on May 12. She also visited SA8000-certified facilities, including Bradesco
Bank and the Andrade Gutierrez engineering and construction company. Both
represented important sector leaders with a strong commitment to SA8000.
For the development of its programs in Brazil, SAI has initial support
from Grupo Libra and is currently consolidating its network of local partner
organizations by setting up a Forum of certified facilities, where companies
and stakeholders will have the opportunity to exchange best practices and
address common challenges of social compliance at the workplace. |
News of the SAI Advisory Board
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Achim Lohrie
SAI's Advisory Board Chairman
Head of Corporate Responsibility, Tchibo GmbH |
On April 27-29, SAI's multistakeholder Advisory Board convened in New York for its
semiannual meeting. The primary focus of the meeting was discussion of the next
five years progress in capacity building and toward "getting to scale".
On the closing day, April 29, Dan Henkle, Senior Vice President of Social
Responsibility at Gap Inc., stepped down as SAI Advisory Board Chair after
three excellent years. We are pleased to announce the election of long time
Board member Achim Lohrie, Head of Corporate Responsibility at Tchibo GmbH,
as the new Chairman! Dr. Morton Winston, Professor at the College of New
Jersey and former chairman of Amnesty International's Board of Directors, was
elected Vice Chairman.
We are also pleased to welcome new members to the board: Rossella Ravigli,
CSR Manager for Gucci; Alke Boessinger, Head of UNI Commerce for UNI
Global Union; and Achille Tonani, Sustainability, Governance and Innovation
Sector Manager for RINA S.p.A.
SAI Advisory Board members represent a broad range of expertise in human
rights, child and labor rights, socially responsible investing, auditing,
and supply chain management. The expertise of these new members support
SAI goals of equal representation from all perspectives in order to maintain
and advance our mission of human rights at work. |
SAI Professional Development Seminar
Launches in Brazil and India
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In April, SAI partnered to present seminars in India
and Brazil.
Three two-day seminars in India--Mumbai,
Pune and Bangalore-sponsored by GTZ, addressed "Enhancing Competitiveness
through Improving Social Compliance". The São Paulo,
Brazil
one-day seminar, conducted in cooperation with BSD, addressed "Enhancing Competitiveness through Improving Social
Compliance-Entering a new decade with SA8000:2008." Brazil and India are important countries for
SAI's mission, with a high number of certifications, and also because the importance of their economies
and their widespread CSR movements. These seminars highlighted key concepts of
social compliance, explaining the management systems required for social
compliance and demonstrating how adherence to these systems can enhance and
build international competitiveness and corporate sustainability. Topics
included: Building efficient management systems and internal compliance teams
to sustain ongoing CSR inside companies, innovative strategies for
communicating and enhancing compliance in supply chains, and exchange of best
practices in implementing CSR among SA8000 certified companies.
These seminars are aspects of SAI's Professional Development Series (PDS).
First launched in Fall 2008 in New
York, PDS training consists of one- and two-day courses
targeted to the specific needs of sourcing personnel, corporate compliance
managers, suppliers and auditors. Professional Development courses offered
include: Building internal Compliance Teams, Control of Sub-Contractors,
Management Systems for Social Compliance, Integrating Sourcing and Compliance. |
São Paulo, Brazil - April 14, 2009
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| April 14, in São Paulo, Brazil,
the seminar was packed with a diverse group of over 40 participants, variously coming from engineering firms, consulting
firms, mining companies, retail companies, banks, and non-profit organizations.
The training was led by: Elena Arengo, SAI's Latin American Program Officer;
Professor Fernanda Gabriela Borger, FIPE/University of São Paulo; Beat Grüninger, BSD Consulting;
and Adriano Diniz Costa, BSD Consulting. |
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Adriano Diniz Costa |
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Dr. Elena Arengo and Beat Grüninger
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| The Brazil seminar was made possible by the generosity and support of Grupo Libra. |
India - April 16-25, 2009
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On April 16-17, in India's
commercial city of Mumbai,
the two-day seminar had over 40 participants from diverse organizations--manufacturing
companies, engineering firms, pharmaceutical healthcare companies, and
hotels. The seminar was jointly led by Craig Moss, SAI's Director of
Corporate Programs and Training, and Madhuri Lele, SAI-India Consultant. |
| On April 20-21, in India's industrial city of Pune, over 40 seminar participants attended, from
pharmaceuticals, electronics, automotive, manufacturing, and packaging
industries, and engineering firms. The seminar was also led by Craig Moss
and Madhuri Lele. |
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On April 24-25, in Bangalore, India's 'Silicon Valley,' the seminar's
50-plus participants represented engineering and technology firms,
manufacturing, textile, pharmaceutical, and automotive companies, non-profit
organizations, management consultants and real estate development firms.
This seminar was led by Craig Moss,
Madhuri Lele, and Badri Gulur, SAI Lead Auditor in India.
All three seminars were widely praised by attendees. A participant from the Bangalore seminar
commented, "the program was well planned and very informative. I am sure this program
will go a long way in setting the precedence of social accountability in
ourselves as well as the companies we work for." After the Mumbai seminar, a participant remarked, "I have developed the faith
that SA8000 and related practices will surely weave its way into Indian
industry sooner than expected by many!"
The seminars in India were made possible thanks to the generosity and support of GTZ, the German Technical Cooperation Agency.
For more information about SAI's Professional Development Series click here
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Upcoming SAI Training Courses
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5-Day Basic Auditor Training
May 11-15: Shanghai, China Enroll Now
3-Day Advanced Auditor Training
May 25-27: Shenzhen, China Enroll Now
SA8000: 2008 Standard Revision Training Course
April-June 2009: Web-Based Training Enroll Now |
5-Day Basic Auditor Training
June 8-12: Jakarta, Indonesia Enroll Now
June 15-19: Madrid, Spain Enroll Now
June 22-26: Tokyo, Japan Enroll Now
SA8000: 2008 Standard Revision Training Course
April-June 2009: Web-Based Training Enroll Now |
5-Day Basic Auditor Training
July 6-10: New Delhi, India Enroll Now
July 20-24: São Paulo, Brazil Enroll Now
3-Day Advanced Auditor Training
July 20-22: Athens, Greece Enroll Now
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5-Day Basic Auditor TrainingAugust 17-21: Istanbul, Turkey Enroll Now
August 17-21: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Enroll Now
3-Day Basic Auditor Training August 24-26: Shanghai, China Enroll Now |
SAI Handbook Update:
Garnet Hill Hands-On with Toolkit
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Last March, SAI's Corporate Programs and Training Department published a
Handbook for Corporate Members--"Implementing a Socially Responsible
Supply Chain"-- containing an extensive toolkit for building a
management system for supply chain control.
Ever since publication, the handbook has received encouraging reviews. For
example, Marianne Lax, Director of Product Development at Garnet Hill remarked,
"The SAI handbook was an exciting read; it was interesting, thought
provoking and supplied great information for our group discussions. The
information is presented in a way that is engaging and understandable. It's a
great, usable tool for developing your own CSR program."
Garnet Hill became an SAI Corporate Programs member in April, signing on at the
Supporting Level. We were pleased to have Joyce Lehman, Quality
Director at Garnet Hill, as an observer at SAI's Advisory Board last month.
The Handbook is intended to be a practical reference book and a tool to
help a company with implementing or improving its social compliance policies
and procedures. The goal is to assist companies to understand and develop the
management systems necessary for continual improvement of social compliance in
the supply chain. It was written to be applicable whether a company chooses to
develop its own corporate code of conduct, adopt an industry code, or
ultimately seek SA8000 certification in its supply chain.
The Handbook includes a Supplier Tiered Rating System that can be used to rate
a supplier's current performance and identify specific areas for improvement.
Brands and retailers are seeking to transition from auditing-intensive programs
to ones that help suppliers develop internal capacity. The
use of a tiered rating system encourages buyers and suppliers to openly
establish a baseline measurement, then use management systems (policies and
procedures) and training to help suppliers improve their social compliance.
The Handbook is only available to SAI Corporate Members.
If you are interested, please contact Craig Moss, Director - Corporate Programs & Training, cmoss@sa-intl.org
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SAAS Becomes Full Member of the ISEAL Alliance
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Social Accountability Accreditation Services (SAAS) is pleased to announce its recent acceptance as a full member of the ISEAL Alliance!
ISEAL, the International Social and
Environmental Accreditation and Labelling Alliance, is the global hub for
social and environmental standards systems. ISEAL members are committed
to creating solid and credible standards systems - ISEAL develops guidance and
facilitates coordinated efforts to ensure their effectiveness and credibility
and to help scale up their impacts. The ISEAL Alliance represents a
community of practice incorporating expertise in standard-setting, accreditation,
certification, auditor training, producer capacity building and a range of
related policy issues.
As of SAAS' separation
from SAI, it has been working to earn admission as a full member of
ISEAL. To do this, SAAS needed to meet rigorous criteria: ISEAL members
that deliver international accreditation services must comply with the
requirements of ISO/IEC 17011:2004 for accreditation bodies assessing and
accrediting conformity assessment bodies (CBs). Therefore, SAAS has regularly
participated in a peer review process with other accreditation bodies and
undergone an external audit conducted by an outside auditor to be deemed to be
compliance with ISO/IEC 17011 requirements.
SAAS, originally serving as the Accreditation Department of SAI and now
an independently incorporated organization, supports social responsibility by
ensuring the implementation of credible social standards designed to protect
people and their communities. SAAS evaluates and accredits auditing
organizations to assure they are qualified to hold their clients accountable to
such social standards. Currently, 18 certifiers are accredited to award SA8000
certification. |
Publication of SA8000:
The First Decade; Implementation,
influence, and impact
Social Accountability 8000: The First Decade;
Implementation, Influence, and Impact, edited by Deborah Leipziger, is now available for pre-order. This book is the first book in the
field of corporate social responsibility to examine the progress of a standard
over a ten-year period. It features chapters written by SAI Corporate Members, project partners, and Advisory Board members:
Partha Sengupta and Priyadarshini Sharma of Tata Steel; Mike Patrick
of TNT, Dr. Johannes Merck of Otto Versand, Franco Furno of Gucci,
Dan Henkle of Gap Inc., George Jaksch of Chiquita, Lorenz Berzau of the
Business and Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI), Janet Mensink of Solidaridad,
Dr. Morton Winston of the College
of New Jersey, Paloma Raggo of Syracuse University, Michael Hiscox,
Claire Schwartz, and Michael Toffel of Harvard University; and Beat
Gruninger of Brazil-based Business Meets Social Development (BSD).
Additionally, it features chapters from members of SAI's internal team: Alice Tepper Marlin, Eileen Kohl Kaufman, Craig Moss, and Rochelle
Zaid.
To pre-order your copy, click here
Italian Luxury Brand, Bottega Veneta, Earns SA8000 Certification
SAI is pleased to report that the Italian
luxury brand, Bottega Veneta, has achieved SA8000 Certification. The
certification process, formally begun in July 2008, culminated with an audit by
Bureau Veritas. The certified entities
are Bottega Veneta S.r.l. and B.V. Servizi S.r.l., and the areas are production
of leather goods and development of footwear prototypes and samples.
"Bottega Veneta is committed to the
values and practices of corporate social responsibility in all areas of the
company," says Bottega Veneta CEO Marco Bizzarri. "SA8000 certification
demonstrates our commitment to maintaining humane workplace conditions and the
highest ethical sourcing standards. We believe that ethical business practices
go hand in hand with the long-term growth and strength of the company. We will
continue to expand our CSR efforts while offering the extraordinary quality,
craftsmanship, and timeless design that characterize the Bottega Veneta brand."
Bottega Veneta is based in Vicenza, in the Veneto
region of northeast Italy.
It was founded in 1966 and acquired by Gucci Group in 2001. Gucci is a SAI Corporate Programs member
at the supporting level, and as such is the first luxury brand to have membership.
For more
information on the certification process for facilities, click here
Forced to
Labor: The Cost of Coercion
On May 14,
2009, the Carnegie Council and the International Labour Organization (ILO)
convened a workshop about modern slavery from the personal, policy, and
enforcement perspectives to shine light on this widespread insidious
practice. The panel consisted of Roger
Plant, director of the ILO's Special Action Program to Combat Forced Labor, Robert
Moossy, director of the Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit in the Civil Rights
Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, and Maria Suarez, formerly a slave in California.
Roger Plant
recently authored the ILO's Global Report on forced labor and trafficking, "The Cost of Coercion," which highlights actions against forced labor and reveals new data that
focus on the cost of coercion to the victims of trafficking and forced
labor. The document reports that criminal profits from forced labor have
quintupled in the last four years since estimated profits were $32 billion a year,
of which $28 billion derived from sexual exploitation.
Additionally, there are two other recent relevant ILO publications: Forced Labour and Human Trafficking: Casebook of Court Decisions,
an informative training manual for judges,
prosecutors, and legal practitioners. This casebook covers a range of national
experience, from judicial decisions on forced and bonded labor in a number of
developing countries, through to the more recent decisions on forced labor and
trafficking in industrialized countries. Combating Forced Labour: A Handbook for Employers & Business contains
6 separate, concise, guides to systematically addressing the problem.
Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives During the Recession
SAI's Director of Corporate Programs and Training, Craig Moss, was featured in a May 1 interview published in the
Bangalore [India]
edition of The Economic Times about Corporate Social Responsibility
(CSR) and the launch of the Professional Development Series in India last
month. Mr. Moss spoke about the importance and effectiveness of CSR
initiatives and their impact on governments, corporations, shareholders, and
businesses--when implemented.
"We are seeing a shift in corporations adopting social accountability.
We are undertaking research on areas like employee turnover rates. This has
direct cost implications as it leads to lower recruitment and training costs,
higher employee productivity and ultimately lower manufacturing defective
rates."
Additionally, the interview touched on issues relating to SA8000 requirements, and the demand for certification at the time of the
ongoing economic recession.
"Whether there's a recession or not, all stake-holders - be
it government, corporate, shareholders and consumers- are developing their CSR
base. 70% of the consumers of various US corporates,
for instance, will shy away from buying products of a company which has a low
CSR."
The Economic Times is India's leading business newspaper,
offering business news, financial news, stock/share Market News, and news on
the economy.
For a copy of this article, please contact Joleen Ong at JOng@sa-intl.org SAI Corporate Programs Member Featured in Ethical Corporation
Jeff Swartz, CEO of the Timberland Company was featured in a May interview
conducted by Ethical Corporation magazine. In it, he explains brands must
start engaging consumers on social issues to rebuild trust lost during the
financial crisis. The interview details the social and environmental
efforts put forth to achieve sustainability by Timberland to secure this
trust. These sustainability endeavors involve the communities in which
Timberland operates and also its products- Swartz's mission is to utilize
designs that are both built to last forever, and also reduce the amount of
material and number of parts to make a shoe. Managing ethical risks in the
supply chain, the "bread-and-butter issues," are embodied in Swartz's
goal to "ensure workers go from being 'factors in production' to 'partners
in production.'"
To access the full interview, click here
The Timberland Company joined SAI's Corporate Programs in 2003 at the Explorer level.
For more information on SAI's Corporate Programs,click here |
Project Cultivar Welcomes a New Staff Member
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Elizabeth Torres Aguilar Joins Project Cultivar
Team in Nicaragua
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 Project Cultivar welcomes a new staff member, Elizabeth Torres
Aguilar, as SAI Project Cultivar's administrative assistant. She
previously worked for The Foundation for the Development of Women (Fondo de
Desarrollo para La Mujer-FODEM), a Nicaraguan microfinance institution
specializing in making economic opportunities available to women. She
graduated from the Universidad Católica "Redemptoris Máter" (UNICA)
in Managua,
with a degree in Business Administration and Marketing. Also, we have new
premises, as Project Cultivar moved its regional office from San Pedro Sula, Honduras, to Managua, Nicaragua.
SAI's Project Cultivar, supported by the US Department of Labor, and having
partner organizations in three countries, works in the agricultural sector in Nicaragua, Honduras,
and the Dominican Republic.
The project seeks to increase the capacity of employers, workers, trade unions
& Government Ministries to develop a culture of compliance with national and
international labor laws.
For more information on Project Cultivar, click here |
Interns play an important role here at SAI. We are
pleased to welcome Betty Hui, and to introduce her, in her own
words:
Betty Hui, on herself:
"Being from China, which is a major manufacturing base in today's
global economy, I truly realize that more and more domestic companies are under
increasing pressure to adapt their working conditions to UN-sponsored
international standards. While the impact on businesses practices is still
slight, I believe it will potentially become a major development within China's labor
system. Thus, I decided to make a contribution to SAI's mission to
promote the human rights of workers around the world.
I received my undergraduate degree in international business at the University of Westminster
in London, and my graduate degree in finance
from Boston College. Before joining SAI, most of my
professional experience has been in the finance industry and international
trading."
On her experience at SAI:
"I learned about SAI from Craig Moss,
Director of SAI's Corporate Programs & Training, who enlightened me to the
growing awareness and importance of today's social compliance issues.
I am currently interning in SAI's Corporate Programs & Training
Department. I consider this a valuable opportunity to gain more hands-on
experience in building sustainable social compliance in corporate supply chain
for large brands and retailers. It is also a great learning experience to work
with the core internal team."
We are always welcoming new interns, for opportunities click here
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Announcements and Upcoming Events
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Cotton Production in Uzbekistan: A briefing for ETI Members
27 May 2009, London, UK
A one-day briefing session on what companies, trade unions, NGOs and other stakeholders are doing to increase transparency in cotton supply chains and eliminate the use of forced child labor in Uzbek cotton production. For more information, click here
Business and Sustainability Conference
17-18 June 2009, Washington, D.C.
Achieving sustainability is not a one-time event, but a continuing process of innovation and change. Join leaders from companies such as PepsiCo, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Sun Microsystems, and ExxonMobil Co., who will share how corporations working in tandem with governments and NGOs are redefining business success. For more information, click here
Sustainability Stakeholder Engagement
15-16 July 2009, New York City
This event reports on innovations in corporate sustainability engagement
with multi-stakeholders, including a ground-breaking session on using
social media to build green credentials. Keynotes from experts in
sustainability engagement, including: Sprint, SAP, Whole Foods, ITT, Nestle
Waters, Sharp, the NFL and more. For more information, click here
International Labor Standards, Rights and Beyond, Conference
14-15 August 2009, Stanford Law School, California
The conference will focus on the development of international labor
standards and rights, beginning with a keynote address by Judge Rosemary
Barkett of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Speakers
will address topics including country-specific labor programs linking trade and
labor rights, and the roles of the World Trade Organization and the
International Labor Organization. Dan Henkle, SAI Advisory Board Member and Senior Vice President of Social Responsibility at Gap, Inc. is a featured speaker at this upcoming event. For more information, click here | SAI Seeks a Full-time Executive Assistant
SAI seeks a full-time executive assistant to provide high-level
administrative support to the President and Executive Director.
We can accept applications until June 10. For full details and information, click here |
We invite you to continually send any updates for us to publish in our monthly newsletters!
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contact: Joleen Ong
email: jong@sa-intl.org
web: http://www.sa-intl.org |
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