The Consumer Goods Forum Board issues a Statement for Scheme Owners

The Consumer Goods Forum Board of Directors issued a statement today inviting relevant supply chain partners to participate in the Sustainable Supply Chain Initiative (SSCI) benchmarking process by the end of 2023. The statement emphasizes the CGF Board’s desire to help the entire sector by ensuring that third-party certification schemes and programmes are up to date and satisfy evolving global supply chain due diligence needs. This goal can be realized if supply chain partners embrace the SSCI verification approach, as stated in the following statement: 
 
“As the Consumer Goods Forum’s (CGF) Board of Directors, we recognize the urgent need for increasing worldwide trust in sustainability standards. Standards and certifications are crucial tools in our responsible sourcing procedures, but with hundreds of schemes on the market and dozens more appearing every year, it’s tough to identify which ones satisfy our needs. For our clients, this means additional prices, inefficiencies, and confusion. It’s becoming more of a struggle for everyone involved, including the scheme owners, who have set standards that match our social and environmental sustainability requirements. 
 
The CGF Sustainable Supply Chain Initiative (SSCI) was created to address these issues and make it easier for our businesses to choose which standards can be trusted, while also providing the programme with a financial incentive.

Consumer Goods Forum Board

Supply chain due diligence cannot wait if we are serious about implementing meaningful corporate activities that promote the UN Sustainable Development Goals. To satisfy expectations, we need to be able to rely on appropriate tools and processes, as well as collaborate with supply chain partners who share our vision. Our clients want us to deliver on the sustainability agenda, and we believe the SSCI will help us do so by giving scheme owners with a clearer set of objectives and the potential to assist establish trust in sustainability standards around the world. 
 
As a result, scheme owners are urged to seek to be recognized against the SSCI criteria and contribute to the development of the sustainable future that is so crucial to our success. 
 
Of course, we are ecstatic that numerous schemes have already begun the process, exhibiting leadership in their industry as the first programmes to seek SSCI Recognition. The usefulness of systems like the SSCI Benchmark in approving social audits and certifications has also been recognized by industry partners. We invite CGF members and supply chain partners to take comparable steps to ensure that existing tools fulfil sustainable requirements and critical governance and verification processes. 
 
Our commitment to SSCI represents an industry-wide effort to establish clear standards. We developed a tool to assist us carry out our environmental objectives and effect good change. Now is the time to put it to work for our businesses and the millions of people who work in our country.