ASSESSING RESPONSIBLE PURCHASING PRACTICES

There is a growing consensus among companies, civil society organisations, trade unions, and public authorities that suboptimal purchasing practices can contribute to adverse human rights impacts in global supply chains. In the past decade, particularly in relation to the textile and garment sector, we have witnessed the creation of frameworks, assessment methods and other systems for companies that want to improve their purchasing practices. This paper undertakes a systematic review of many of these methods, tools and approaches. Through comparative analysis, we identify common themes across the tools, such as the emphasis on transparency, collaboration with suppliers, fair pricing, and a focus on product design and production planning. We also pinpoint critical questions that the tools consistently address.

In the second section of this paper, we identify six clusters of topics that are present in most of the analysed approaches and tools: (1) due diligence, (2) collaboration, (3) product design and production planning, (4) costing and pricing, (5) payment terms, and (6) integration, documentation and reporting. These topic clusters can serve as basis for the design process of a compatible, streamlined and effective assessment method, particularly for garment brands and their partners.