Supplier Responsibility

How procurement policies become documented, auditable supplier evidence — from codes of conduct to forced labour risk.

SMETA · BSCI · SA8000

Supplier Codes & Audit Readiness

The main audit frameworks used to assess supplier social compliance. SMETA is the most widely used in Asian supply chains.

SMETA: Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit. 2-pillar (Labour, Health & Safety) or 4-pillar (adds Environment and Business Ethics). Conducted by LRQA, Bureau Veritas, SGS and others. Results shared via Sedex platform.
BSCI (amfori): Business Social Compliance Initiative, now amfori BSCI. Risk-based audit cycle — suppliers scored A to E. Widely used by European retailers.
SA8000: Social Accountability International certification standard based on ILO conventions. Covers child labour, forced labour, health & safety, freedom of association, discrimination, working hours, and remuneration.

CSDDD · EU Forced Labour Regulation

Two distinct EU instruments — one applies to companies, one applies to products. Both have direct implications for Thailand-sourced goods.

CSDDD — Directive (EU) 2024/1760: Requires large companies to identify, prevent, and remediate adverse human rights and environmental impacts in their value chains. Phase-in: 5,000+ employees / €1.5bn turnover from 2027; 3,000+ employees / €900m from 2028; 1,000+ employees / €450m from 2029.
EU Forced Labour Regulation — Regulation (EU) 2024/3015: Applies to all products on the EU market regardless of origin. Competent authorities can ban products made with forced labour. Applies from 14 December 2027.
Thailand ILO status: Thailand has ratified ILO conventions C029 (Forced Labour) and C105 (Abolition of Forced Labour). US Department of Labor lists Thai seafood and shrimp on its List of Goods Produced by Child or Forced Labor (ILAB).
Migrant worker risk: Approximately 4–5 million migrant workers in Thailand, primarily from Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos. Seafood and food processing sectors identified as elevated risk.

Documentation · Corrective Action · Scorecards

What audit-ready supplier evidence looks like in practice — and what gaps are most commonly found.

Core documentation set: Audit reports (SMETA/BSCI), certificates (SA8000, ISO 45001), corrective action plans (CAPs), wage records, worker contracts, recruitment fee declarations.
Corrective Action Plans: Required when audit findings are raised. CAP must specify root cause, corrective measure, responsible person, and closure deadline. Buyers must verify closure — not just receipt of the CAP.
Common gaps — Thai food manufacturing: Overtime hour recording, migrant worker documentation, recruitment fee reimbursement records, freedom of association policy.
Supplier scorecards: Best practice is a tiered system: strategic suppliers (Tier 1) audited annually, Tier 2 assessed by questionnaire, Tier 3 mapped for risk only.
CSDDD evidence standard: Companies must maintain documented evidence of due diligence steps. A policy statement alone is insufficient — evidence must show identification, assessment, and remediation of risks.