Social Accountability International - SA8000

At a glance This document provides an overview of the Social Accountability International - SA8000 standard system. The Social Accountability International - SA8000 is one of the several standard systems that are referenced in Standards Map, the interactive web-based tool on private standards developed by the T4SD program of ITC.

What is the Social Accountability SAI: facts and figures (as of March 2008)

International - SA8000 • As of September 2009, more than 2,000 facilities have been SA8000 certified representing approximately 1,100,000 workers in Social Accountability International (SAI) is an independent, non- 64 countries and 66 industrial sectors. governmental, not-for-profit organization that promotes the human • As of June 2007, the top five countries with the largest number of rights of workers through the implementation of its SA8000 standard. certifications are Italy, India, China, Brazil and Pakistan. The SA8000 standard is based on the principles of the ILO conventions, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Support What products are covered by the standard SAI provides free of charge online access to information and documents that help companies understand the requirements of the SA8000 standard. system SAI also offers a wide range of services and technical assistance including workshops and training seminars. The application of the SA8000 standard is not restricted to any particular sector, product group or service activity.

What are the key features of the standard SAI Contact Details system Social Accountability International 15 West 44th Street, 6th Floor • SA8000 is a process-type standard not a product-type standard. There is no seal or label on goods produced by New York, NY 10036 companies certified against the standard. USA • SA8000 integrates nine core elements: child labor, forced +1 212 684 1414 labor, health and safety, freedom of association and right [email protected] to collective bargaining, discrimination, discipline, working hours, compensation and management systems. www.sa-intl.org • SA8000 requirements apply universally, regardless of a company’s size, its geographic location or industry sector.

Source: Standards Map, Market Analysis Tools, International Trade Centre and the Social Accountability International - SA8000, Last up-date: January 2011 http://www.sa-intl.org. For more information, visit Standards Map or send us an e-mail: [email protected]. The SAI standard system is applicable to producers in the following countries and regions Detailed maps displaying countries where certification / verifiation is currently operational and countries where certified products / services are sold can be generated on ITC’s Standards Map website.

51 countries

ASIA Bahrain, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam AFRICA Egypt, Kenya, Mauritius, Morocco, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia AUSTRALIA & OCEANIA Papua New Guinea CENTRAL AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama EUROPE Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom NORTH AMERICA Mexico SOUTH AMERICA Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela

How to become certified to SA8000

Step 1: Contact one or several certification bodies accredited by the Social Accountability Accreditation Services Agency (SAAS) and ask them to provide a bid for certification services..

Step 2: Auditors from these certification bodies visit facilities and assess corporate practice on a wide range of criteria. The auditors also evaluate the performance of the company’s management systems to ensure the ongoing implementation of acceptable practices laid out in the SA8000 standard..

Step 3: In case of compliance with the SA8000 requirements, a certificate is issued which the certified facilities are required to make public. SAAS also publishes this information on its website.

Step 4: Certified companies can display their certificate, but individual products cannot be labeled as the certification represents a workplace process and not a product certification..

The following table provides an overview of SA8000 principles and requirements and related compliance policies covering social, environmental and economic areas applied in production, processing and trade.

Explanation of Standards Map’s interpretation of compliance policies in the SA8000 system: Immediate Requirement: The normative elements of SA8000 are based on national law, international human rights norms and the conventions of the ILO. SA8000 is verifiable through an evidenced-based process, its requirements apply universally, regardless of a company’s size, geographic location, or industry sector. As such, SA8000 requirements are presented in Standards Map as “immediate requirements”.

Environment Social Economic

Social/human rights Administration and management Promotion/enhancement of education Timely payment criteria from buyer Promotion/enhancement of medical Corporate Social Responsibility policy care Internal Control System management Housing and sanitary facilities in place Human resources management Gender issues Gender policies and best practices Women’s rights at work Health and safety of women Cultural/religion rights (ILO 169) Indigenous rights

Immediate requirements Work/labor rights Conditions of work Safety at work (ILO 184) Training on safety issues Safe work environment Safety equipments and emergency kits Healthy work conditions Access to safe drinking water Access to sanitary facilities at work Access to medical assistance/ insurance Training requirements on site No forced labor (ILO 29&105) No use of physical violence Child labor prohibited (ILO 182) Condition of employment Contract labour policies and practices Transparency of employment practices Written contracts Leave days clearly specified Timely payment of wages Pensions and social security benefits Minimum wage requirements Living wages to cover basic human services/savings Minimum age (ILO 138) Equal remuneration (ILO 100) Maximum number of working hours set Workers empowerment Freedom of association (ILO 87) Collective Bargaining (ILO 98) No discrimination at work (ILO 111) Continued on next page.

Social/human rights Community consultation on impact of business Recommendation