Supply chain transparency

Transparency can bring significant benefits for business and drive better outcomes for workers.

Why transparency is important

For workers’ rights

Transparency holds businesses accountable; it shines a light on what is or isn’t being done on human rights due diligence. ETI has seen firsthand that when businesses are asked to publicly disclose their due diligence processes, these processes receive heightened attention and resources, leading to substantial improvements directly impacting workers in their supply chains. Transparency enables businesses sourcing from the same areas to collaborate in times of crisis, shortening response times when workers need urgent support and remediation. Transparency enables workers themselves to access grievance mechanisms and hold companies accountable on their working conditions.

For companies

Transparency is essential for companies today. It is required to comply with increasing legal requirements such as the CSRDD and CSDDD. Done well, transparency can boost a company’s competitive edge and safeguard their corporate reputation. This in turn strengthens their brand image and creates consumer trust. It facilitates collective action with civil society organisations, trade unions and fellow companies. It builds trust with investors and eases access to capital. Companies working transparently build trust with their suppliers too and have more efficient and sustainable sourcing relationships. Transparency enables companies to hold a mirror to their own practices and improve their approaches.

Then

Back in 2015, ETI recognised this and integrated transparency into our Perspective 2020 strategy. We published our first formal documentation on transparency and laid out future plans. Our Business case towards greater transparency and ETI’s direction of travel marked the beginning of our work on transparency. They were created under the supervision of a tripartite advisory group including company, NGO and trade union representatives, and aimed to lay the foundations for work to come. From compliance with legislation to embedding better internal practices, our business case outlines the key benefits for companies in becoming more transparent.

And now

In 2021, we launched our Corporate Transparency Framework (CTF) which details the public reporting requirements for all ETI company members. Company members commit to meeting these requirements and to move towards better practices. We work closely with our company members to support them to meet these requirements.

Minimum requirements of ETI's Corporate Transparency Framework

1.1 Publish a statement articulating your company’s commitment to respect labour rights...

1.1 Publish a statement articulating your company’s commitment to respect labour rights in its supply chain activities, in line with the ETI Base Code.

1.2 Set out internal governance and accountability structures for managing human rights in supply chains. 

1.3 Describe how you have identified and prioritised human rights risks in your operations or supply chains.

1.4 Include a description of your supply chains1, including the geographical spread of production and/or sourcing, and locations of highest risk, and a list of first-tier suppliers on the Open Supply Hub.

1.5 Describe the company’s approach with regard to respect for trade union rights, including respect for freedom of association and collective bargaining.

1.6 Report on salient risks identified and plans made to mitigate risk.

1.7 Information in the public domain should describe the most up to date information at the time of publishing on all of the above requirements.

Get the full framework

As ETI enters its third year of public reporting under the CTF, company members will be required to publish their tier 1 suppliers directly on Open Supply Hub.

Before CTF, we felt that our annual assessments were divorced from the real work we do in our supply chain, and that they were merely a separate entity to comply with, rather than complement that work.

Through CTF's guidance, resources, and networks, we have seen an approach that not only captures and assesses the actual work we do with our suppliers, but also enhances and strengthens that work.

Consequently, we have already observed improvements in our relationships with suppliers, as well as an overall sense of improving and strengthening our human rights work.

Ken Edgar, ONE+ALL

Case study

Reporting against the CTF: ONE+All

ONE+All reflects on their efforts to meet ETI's Corporate Transparency Framework requirements.
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Partnership with Open Supply Hub

The Open Supply Hub is a collaborative data sharing platform hosting supplier data from around the world. This year, all full ETI company members will share their tier 1 supplier data directly via the platform to improve accessibility and increase collaborative opportunities for impact. We have built a partnership with Open Supply Hub and are working together to continue to improve transparency and drive progress on human rights in global supply chains.

To build safe and sustainable supply chains, we need harmonized approaches that make collaboration easier and more effective. The way that data is shared and leveraged is a critical part of powering that harmonization. 

Ethical Trading Initiative is leading the way in this regard by mandating company members share their supply chain data on Open Supply Hub. This is a tangible commitment to making their corporate members’ supply chain disclosures as impactful as possible by ensuring their data is open and accessible, easy to layer over one another to find overlaps and opportunity, and available to potential collaborators within and outside of the ETI community.

Natalie Grillon, CEO & Executive Director, Open Supply Hub

Looking to 2025 

In line with our strategic aims and to continue improving both our company members' transparency and our own, we will be publishing ETI company members' CTF performance on our website for the first time in 2025. This marks an important step forward towards enhanced transparency, improving ETI company members’ performance, as well as our own.  

File(s)

ETI's Corporate Transparency Framework

Details the public reporting requirements that have been set out for all ETI company members. Sets out the minimum that is expected and shows how to move towards better practices.
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