Welcome to the Fruit South Africa (FSA) Ethical Trade
Programme which is now formalised as the Sustainability
Initiative of South Africa (SIZA). The programme was
established as a pro-active response by the industry to
promote sound ethical labour practices on South African
fruit farms and pack houses. It is an holistic programme
that identifies problems that may exist, either by way of an
audit process or general awareness, and responds with
appropriate support and interventions including
awareness-raising around the law and its application, and
relevant capacity-building programmes. While the programme
has been initiated by the fruit industry, the SIZA programme
is open to all agricultural industries in South Africa.
The SIZA programme is underpinned by a number of principles including: adoption of a single South African Standard and audit process and methodology that is aligned to international standards; non-duplication of audits and support for ongoing improvement of labour practices on farms.
In 2008 the South African fruit industry took a decision to respond to the need to provide retailers and their consumers with assurances of fair labour practices in their supply base, by supporting the development of a single South African based ethical standard and programme that would meet all retailer requirements. Such a programme would aim to harmonise all ethical code requirements in order to create one system and drive the principle of ‘one audit for all’.
Fruit SA engaged with the Global Social Compliance Programme (GSCP) which has developed an internationally recognised set of Reference tools, including a reference code and audit methodology reference tool that can be used as the basis for the development of a single code and methodology to meet all requirements. The process involved the adoption of the GSCP Reference Code and the GSCP Audit Process and Methodology, the alignment of the Code with South African law, a self-assessment of both documents against the GSCP Reference tools, and their submission to undergo a process of equivalence validated by an independent panel of experts.
The documents have been through the GSCP equivalence process which means they have been reviewed by an independent international expert panel to assess their equivalence with the GSCP requirements. This process was completed in August 2012 and results of the review can be viewed as a part of the ‘Share and Compare’ facility on the GSCP website. Audits against the Standard can begin in November 2012.
The industry has developed a number of resources linked to ethical compliance to support its members. All the completed resources are available on the website for members to use. The website also provides details of the ethical trade programme, information on the audit process, newsletters, FAQs, and how you can participate in the programme.
Please feel free to contact Colleen Chennells who is coordinating the FSA ethical trade programme should you require any further information.
The SIZA programme is underpinned by a number of principles including: adoption of a single South African Standard and audit process and methodology that is aligned to international standards; non-duplication of audits and support for ongoing improvement of labour practices on farms.
In 2008 the South African fruit industry took a decision to respond to the need to provide retailers and their consumers with assurances of fair labour practices in their supply base, by supporting the development of a single South African based ethical standard and programme that would meet all retailer requirements. Such a programme would aim to harmonise all ethical code requirements in order to create one system and drive the principle of ‘one audit for all’.
Fruit SA engaged with the Global Social Compliance Programme (GSCP) which has developed an internationally recognised set of Reference tools, including a reference code and audit methodology reference tool that can be used as the basis for the development of a single code and methodology to meet all requirements. The process involved the adoption of the GSCP Reference Code and the GSCP Audit Process and Methodology, the alignment of the Code with South African law, a self-assessment of both documents against the GSCP Reference tools, and their submission to undergo a process of equivalence validated by an independent panel of experts.
The documents have been through the GSCP equivalence process which means they have been reviewed by an independent international expert panel to assess their equivalence with the GSCP requirements. This process was completed in August 2012 and results of the review can be viewed as a part of the ‘Share and Compare’ facility on the GSCP website. Audits against the Standard can begin in November 2012.
The industry has developed a number of resources linked to ethical compliance to support its members. All the completed resources are available on the website for members to use. The website also provides details of the ethical trade programme, information on the audit process, newsletters, FAQs, and how you can participate in the programme.
Please feel free to contact Colleen Chennells who is coordinating the FSA ethical trade programme should you require any further information.
Vision
The SA fruit export industry is committed to a proactive common industry solution to ethical trade matters, to ensuring the existence of sound ethical practices on South African farms and pack houses across all fruit sectors and to promoting ongoing improvement on its farms. The industry recognizes the stringency of the South African legal framework and that the obligation to adhere to this framework assures a high standard of ethics on the part of all industry stakeholders.Goals
The goals of the FSA Ethical Trade Programme are as follows:- To ensure that the industry drives its own ethical trade programme, aligned to local and international standards in a professional manner
- To support ongoing improvement of labour conditions on fruit farms and in packhouses
- To help manage commercial risks allied to ethical trade matters
- To give retailers (and other stakeholders) confidence in the South African supply base
- To drive convergence with other ethical programmes to reduce the number (and cost) of audits for growers and avoid duplication
- To support ethical practices along the supply
chain