During a Side Session of the OECD Forum on Due Diligence in the Garment and Footwear Sector 2022, which will be held virtually from February 22-25, 2022, the SCI will present for the first time, results about the preparedness of standards to converge and thus to contribute to efforts reducing and eventually ending standard fatigue.
The proliferation of different standards (both third-party standards and proprietary standards by brands/retailers) has led to a situation in which textile companies are faced with a multitude of standards that are often very similar though not identical.
This requires textile companies to undergo additional and duplicative (=unnecessary) audits and to prepare for a multitude of (slightly) different standards.
It is the aim of the SCI to maximize the convergence of standards in the textile and apparel supply chain. Convergence has the potential for the redirection of resources previously used for duplicative audits toward increased efforts for improving labor conditions.
Standard holders should consider aligning their standards where feasible to do so and brands/retailers should consider dropping their proprietary standards in favor of third-party standards.
Against this backdrop the International Apparel Federation (IAF) and the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) have teamed up with the International Trade Center (ITC) to measure to what degree third-party standard holders are prepared to converge their standards. To measure the preparedness to converge, the SCI has made use of ITC’s Standards Map.
During the Side Session the SCI will explain the methodology, present the benchmarking tool, and present the preliminary results. IAF and ITMF will use the results of the research to stimulate – in an informed way – standard holders to accelerate their efforts to reduce standard fatigue.
The virtual side session is open and interested people can register on the SCI-website via the following link:
https://www.standard-convergence-initiative.org/#2022-02-25
