Ethical Trade Initiative (ETI)

Demonstrate your commitment to better working conditions

Given the choice, consumers prefer to buy products from organisations that are committed to ethical trade. Yet practising ethical trade is more complicated than it sounds. Modern supply chains are vast. Labour issues are increasingly complex. Wages and living standards vary drastically from country to country. Individual companies cannot tackle these challenges alone.

The Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) is an alliance of companies, trade unions and non-governmental organisations. It exists to identify and promote good practice in employment conditions. Committed to improving people’s working lives, the ETI focuses on companies producing, supplying and selling goods for consumer markets.

Most UK retailers now recognise the ETI. To be a member, your organisation must adhere to a code of labour practices based on key conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and accompanied by a set of general principles. In this way, the ETI ensures that companies take responsibility for the ethical sourcing of their goods.

Members of the ETI are expected to adopt the Base Code or adapt their own codes of practice to incorporate the Base Code. We offer ETI audits to help you and your suppliers meet ethical trading requirements and improve workers’ lives.