Growers and organisations based in South Africa’s Western and Eastern Cape dominate the membership of the Sustainability Initiative of South Africa (SIZA), which was started some years ago as a response to the growing demand from retailers for their suppliers to demonstrate compliance with international labour standards.
Colleen Channels, coordinator of the programme, says 57 per cent of members are based in the Western Cape, 21 per cent in the Eastern Cape, 9 per cent in Limpopo, 5 per cent in the Northern Cape and the rest in the remaining five provinces.
“We have taken great strides this year and our target for end March 2015 is 1500 members,' she explains. 'The SIZA programme aims to prevent duplication of audits by providing a one-stop-shop for producers and packhouses, allowing a site to undergo one ethical audit that is recognised by all retailers.
'SIZA members would be able to share their self-assessment questionnaires and audit reports with any buyer as required.'
While the SIZA Standard is based on South African law, it has been aligned to global standards using the platform of the SIZA capacity-building programme, which has been rolling out since January 2014 and has trained over 2,000 people in the industry, focusing on standard requirements, management systems, audits and how to drive ongoing improvement.
Chennels says SIZA is recognised by major retailers worldwide. “Currently SIZA is recognised in the UK by Tesco, Marks & Spencer, Waitrose, COOP, Sainsbury's and Morrissons. In the EU, the Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) has a mutual recognition agreement with SIZA which means it will recognise the audit on behalf of its members.”
She adds that SIZA is also engaging with US and Canadian retailers. Locally, SIZA is working with South African retailers, including Woolworths which recognises the SIZA audit, Pick 'n Pay, Spar, and Shoprite-Checkers.
