SMETA--Sedex Member Ethical Trade Audit

SMETA - Sedex Member Ethical Trade Audit

SMETA refers to the Sedex Member Ethical Trade Audit, which includes three aspects:

• Common best practice guidance for conducting ethical trade audits
• Common audit report format
• Common Adjustment Action Plan Format

The SMETA Guidance and Reporting Format was developed by the Sedex Associate Auditor Working Group to enable Sedex members to provide an ethical trade audit reporting format that is easily shareable and provides greater transparency into the auditor qualifications and practices that underpin the report.

SMETA aims to bring benefits to retailers, consumer brands and suppliers by reducing duplication of ethical trade auditing work. Companies that are not members of Sedex can also use SMETA and we encourage them to do so.

SMETA is not a new code of conduct or standard to audit against. It is a compilation of best practices in ethical trade auditing techniques that helps experienced auditors to perform high-level audits, recognized by multiple retailers and brands.

The SMETA guidelines include:

• Recommendations on the audit timeline.
• The number of workers to be interviewed is recommended for a particular company's size.
• Training and experience requirements for auditors.
• Advice on pre-audit communications.