Third Scheme Achieves SSCI Recognition: SIZA

PARIS, June 13, 2023 /3BL Media/ - The Consumer Goods Forum’s (CGF) Sustainable Supply Chain Initiative (SSCI) is pleased to announce that SIZA, the Sustainability Initiative of South Africa, completed the SSCI Benchmarking process and achieved SSCI Recognition. SIZA’s standard, SIZA Social Standard February 2020 v.6, was successfully benchmarked against the SSCI Benchmarking Requirements for Scopes AI – Manufacturing and Processing and BI – Primary Production Version 1.0. In achieving SSCI Recognition, SIZA demonstrates leadership in the effort to build credibility among sustainability standards worldwide.

SIZA, the Sustainability Initiative of South Africa, is enabling the South African agricultural sector to become a global leader in sustainable farming, ethical trade, and environmental stewardship. The aim is to encourage continuous improvement in practices over time. SIZA aims to have a cost-effective approach for growers by supplying one standard and one audit, no matter which market a producer supplies. SIZA engages directly with stakeholders throughout the value chain to improve supply chain sustainability, ensuring compliance and reducing risks while at the same time offering support and training with regard to best practices and continuous improvement. Verification occurs via third-party audits.

As it ‘verifies the verifiers,’ the SSCI awards an additional, yet essential, layer of trust to sustainability standards that demonstrate alignment with the SSCI Benchmark Criteria and achieve SSCI Recognition. As SSCI-Recognised standards, third-party auditing, monitoring, and certification schemes and programmes signal a strong commitment to raising the bar in their certification processes and driving harmonisation in a diverse field of sustainability standards, while at the same time remain free to innovate their approaches to ensure sustainability a dynamic way. Today’s announcement demonstrates the SIZA Social Standard February 2020 v.6 meets the industry’s expectations and SIZA is now fully recognised by the SSCI.

Didier Bergeret, Director of Sustainability, The Consumer Goods Forum, said, "We congratulate SIZA on completing the SSCI Benchmark process and achieving SSCI Recognition. Not only is SIZA the first scheme to achieve SSCI Recognition under two sectoral scopes, but it is also the first to be recognised in our Primary Production scope. The SSCI is proud to work with this leader in sustainable agriculture and support a more aligned, efficient approach to sustainability certifications in South Africa."

Retha Louw, CEO, SIZA, said, “SIZA strives to assist South African agricultural growers in achieving effective ethical labour and environmental compliance in their business while minimizing costs related to auditing. By closely aligning with recognised certification bodies and standard holders across the globe, SIZA aims to avoid duplicating market requirements for South African suppliers. The Benchmark with SSCI exemplifies how aligned standards can significantly reduce benchmarking time and cost, enabling the creation of a unified platform that ends up reducing audit fatigue and costs for suppliers. Through this collaborative effort, we can aim to drive ethical labour practices that are relevant on the ground and contribute to meeting the global Sustainable Development Goals."

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About The Consumer Goods Forum

The Consumer Goods Forum (“CGF”) is a global, parity-based industry network that is driven by its members to encourage the global adoption of practices and standards that serves the consumer goods industry worldwide. It brings together the CEOs and senior management of some 400 retailers, manufacturers, service providers, and other stakeholders across 70 countries, and it reflects the diversity of the industry in geography, size, product category and format. Its member companies have combined sales of EUR 3.5 trillion and directly employ nearly 10 million people, with a further 90 million related jobs estimated along the value chain. It is governed by its Board of Directors, which comprises more than 50 manufacturer and retailer CEOs. For more information, please visit: www.theconsumergoodsforum.com.

About the Sustainable Supply Chain Initiative

The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) Sustainable Supply Chain Initiative (SSCI) builds trust in sustainability standards worldwide by benchmarking third-party auditing and certification programs and recognizing schemes that meet industry expectations. By providing an open-source list of recognized programs, the SSCI delivers clear guidance on which schemes cover key sustainability criteria and apply relevant verification practices. The SSCI improves transparency in the market, facilitates decision-making on schemes at both buyer and supplier level and sets the responsible sourcing expectations for the industry. The Initiative initially focuses on social compliance with the potential to expand the scope to environmental compliance. For more information, visit www.tcgfssci.com.

For further information, please contact:

Didier Bergeret 
Sustainability Director 
The Consumer Goods Forum 
ssci@theconsumergoodsforum.com

Madelaine VanDerHeyden 
Communications Manager 
The Consumer Goods Forum 
m.vanderheyden@theconsumergoodsforum.com