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Search GSCP integration to help drive CGF forced labour resolution; GSCP members to benefit and help support CGF work
PARIS, 27th July 2016 – The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) has today announced that the Global Social Compliance Programme (GSCP), a programme dedicated to developing more sustainable supply chains and already hosted by the CGF, will now be fully integrated into the CGF’s Sustainability Pillar. As a result of the integration, the CGF will further strengthen its offering to members and its ability to drive business efficiencies and positive change across the consumer goods industry. Current GSCP members will be invited to participate in the CGF’s existing work on social sustainability.
The GSCP has a strong international reputation for promoting best practices in sustainable supply chain management. It has led efforts to make social and environmental supply chain compliance a priority for the consumer goods industry. The GSCP’s work was also one of the inspirations for the CGF’s pioneering resolution, announced in February 2016 to strive to eradicate forced labour from global supply chains.
Today, with its official integration into the CGF’s sustainability Pillar, the resources and expertise of the GSCP can be pooled with the CGF’s Sustainability Pillar to help members tackle the biggest social and environmental challenges impacting the industry. The CGF will maintain the current array of GSCP Reference Tools as well as the Equivalence Process, an online benchmarking platform, making them more readily available to the entire CGF network. The GSCP will also continue to develop partnerships with governments, NGOs and other relevant stakeholders as it works to drive the harmonisation of standards globally.
Didier Bergeret, Director, Social Sustainability and GSCP at the CGF, said, “The GSCP is critical to the broader mission of the CGF and this move solidifies its importance. We welcome the integration and the additional benefits it will provide our longstanding GSCP members. They can now fully benefit from being part of a CEO-led organisation that is committed to helping our industry do business the right way. We have achieved much within the GSCP, but this move will help amplify our reach and impact”.
Peter Freedman, Managing Director of the CGF, said, “This move has the unanimous backing of our Board of Directors and we warmly welcome GSCP members into the CGF family. Their work within the GSCP has been instrumental in helping our industry develop more sustainable supply chains and we look forward to having their experience and expertise help drive our ongoing efforts in this area”.
Jan Furstenborg, Labour relations expert, former Head of UNI COMMERCE and GSCP Advisory Board member, said, “Merging GSCP into broader CGF work is a welcome development also from a stakeholder point of view. Our focus is now shifting to real improvements for supplier country workers, their families and communities. As a good and very demanding starting point, many of the world’s largest consumer goods brands and retailers will now work with GSCP to eradicate forced labour from global supply chains. Adding to their existing human rights and labour due diligence projects and activities, this will support an effective private sector participation to help reach the UN Sustainable Development Goals”.
David Schilling, Director of Human Rights and Resources Programs, Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) and Chair of the GSCP Advisory Board, added, “ICCR, as a coalition of over 300 faith-based and socially responsible investors, has advocated the importance on sustainable supply chain management to detect and remediate labour and environmental abuses. ICCR has been a strong supporter of the GSCP in the promotion and harmonisation of sustainable supply chain standards. This move into the CEO-led organisation represents the opportunity to further mainstream the GSCP reference framework, and to deliver real collaborative impact through an industry focus on forced labour which the ICCR strongly welcomes”.
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About the Global Social Compliance Programme
The Global Social Compliance Programme (GSCP) brings together key actors of the consumer goods industry to collaborate on a common goal: driving positive change and business efficiency in the areas of social and environmental sustainability along the supply chain. Motivated by the conviction that the way forward in sustainability is through collaboration and convergence, these experts from various sectors and affiliations, including major retail companies, brand manufacturers, international organisations, academia and government, have joined forces within the GSCP framework to deliver a harmonised, global approach for more efficient and sustainable supply chains, as well as the eradication of forced labour. This work is accomplished through a complete suite of Reference Tools, a robust Equivalence Process and the 2016 CGF Board Resolution on Forced Labour.
For more information on the GSCP, please visit: www.gscpnet.com.
About The Consumer Goods Forum
The Consumer Goods Forum (“CGF”) is a global, parity-based industry network that is driven by its members to encourage the global adoption of practices and standards that serves the consumer goods industry worldwide. It brings together the CEOs and senior management of some 400 retailers, manufacturers, service providers, and other stakeholders across 70 countries, and it reflects the diversity of the industry in geography, size, product category and format. Its member companies have combined sales of EUR 2.5 trillion and directly employ nearly 10 million people, with a further 90 million related jobs estimated along the value chain. It is governed by its Board of Directors, which comprises 50 manufacturer and retailer CEOs.
For more information, please visit: www.theconsumergoodsforum.com.
For further information, please contact:
Didier Bergeret | Director, Social Sustainability & GSCP
The Consumer Goods Forum
[email protected]
Lee Green | Senior Manager, Communications
The Consumer Goods Forum
[email protected]
