SMETA and Sedex

Sedex is the name of the organization – SMETA is the name of an audit methodology.

The Supplier Ethical Data Exchange (Sedex) is a not-for-profit, membership organization that leads work with buyers and suppliers to deliver improvements in responsible and ethical business practices in global supply chains.

SMETA (Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit) is the audit procedure created by the Sedex membership which is a compilation of good practice in ethical audit technique. Using SMETA, a supplier can have one audit conducted and share it with multiple customers, rather than having a different audit conducted for each customer. The SMETA documents are designed to be used by experienced auditors in line with current established practices.

SMETA has been developed to provide guidance for both 2-Pillar and 4-Pillar audits, allowing individual supply chains to choose their requirements. The guidance can be adopted and tailored to carry out audits against a range of other labor codes based on the conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO).

A SMETA 2-Pillar audit comprises:

• Labor Standards 
• Health and Safety 
• Additional Elements:
  • Universal Rights covering UNGP
  • Management Systems
  • Entitlement to Work
  • Subcontracting and Homeworking

A SMETA 4-Pillar audit contains in addition:

• Environment (extended) – this replaces the Environment (shortened) section detailed above
• Business Ethics

Supplier Ethical Data Exchange (Sedex) is the largest collaborative platform for sharing ethical supply chain data. It’s a globally recognized innovative and effective supply chain management solution, helping to reduce risk, protect company reputations and improve supply chain practices.

Through recognized assessment schemes, and a secure online database (Sedex Advance) to store and share audit reports, buyers (A member), buyers/suppliers (AB member) or suppliers (B Member) can initiate the audit and access the reports.

Sedex’s aim is:

• To drive improvements in ethical performance
• Ease the burden on suppliers facing multiple audits, questionnaires and certifications

And they partner with audit firms like BSI to deliver on this.

Our highly qualified auditors carry out on-site observations, conduct interviews with factory management and workers, inspect documents provided by the factory, and present their findings in a SMETA Audit Report. Based on the audit report, our experts can prepare a SMETA Corrective Action Plan Report (CAPR), outlining the improvements that the factory must make to achieve compliance and will help:

• Reduce audit fatigue by providing one format for audits that is widely accepted
• Motivate the workforce, while improving efficiency in the workplace
• Enhance ethical trading programmes currently in place
• Answer questions on ethical performance from non-government organizations and customers

Sedex has over 60,000 members in 180 countries, across 35 industry sectors, including food, agriculture, financial services, clothing and apparel, packaging and chemicals. The benefits it delivers include:

Buyers

• Visibility: keep track of supplier performance - identify risks and spot improvements
• Scalable: whether you work with thousands of suppliers or just a handful, Sedex Advance can be tailored to meet your needs

Suppliers

• Save time and resources: a simple and cost-effective way to share your responsible sourcing information with multiple buyers
• Efficiency: complete one self-assessment questionnaire and share your audit reports and certifications so your business can avoid repeating the same tasks and spend the time focused on improvements
• Trusted: the Sedex system is secure and confidential, and suppliers have complete control over who can view their data

BSI (British Standards Institution) is the business standards company that equips businesses with the necessary solutions to turn standards of best practice into habits of excellence. Formed in 1901, BSI was the world’s first National Standards Body and a founding member of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Over a century later it continues to facilitate business improvement across the globe by helping its clients drive performance, manage risk and grow sustainably through the adoption of international management systems standards, many of which BSI originated. Renowned for its marks of excellence including the consumer recognized BSI Kitemark™, BSI’s influence spans multiple sectors including aerospace, automotive, built environment, food, healthcare and ICT. With over 80,000 clients in 172 countries, BSI is an organization whose standards inspire excellence across the globe.

Our clients choose us:

• For our unique client management structure
• For our expertise
• For our integrity
• Because we are performance minded
• For our expert assessors

BSI is one of the few approved organizations with the ability to conduct remote audits.

BSI Remote Audits enable us to deliver your audit program how and when you need it. The same trusted experts engage your team members wherever they are based and enhance your audit with immersive technologies.

A remote audit is the same as an on-site audit, but the auditor engages with you via technology. It can still cover document and record review, tours of your premises, interviews with workers and presentation of findings by using a range of technology platforms including: live web streamlining technology such as Webex, Zoom, MS Teams, GotoWebinar.

Sedex Virtual Assessment (SVA) is a due diligence tool, enabling remote assessments of sites and workplaces. Aligned with SMETA, it provides a practical alternative to on-site audits, aiming to provide as much insight into working conditions at a site as possible.

BSI is one of the few affiliate audit companies, which are approved to conduct SVA. BSI uses immersive technology solutions to conduct Sedex Virtual Assessments.

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