As the industry looks to cut red tape wherever possible, Sedex is rapidly proving a viable option demanded by many of the major retailers in the UK.

The not-for-profit membership organisation collates data from suppliers and allows it be viewed, on request, through a company’s supply chain.

The body, set up just five years ago, has quickly become an industry standard and hopes to help speed up the supply chain, aid new business contacts and simplify the collating of various certifications on labour standards, health and safety, business integrity and environment.

But there have been some issues with conflict between Sedex, which operates globally across all industries, and the Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) in Europe.

Tom Smith, marketing manager at Sedex, told freshinfo: “We have grown rapidly and currently have some 22,000 sites of employment, allowing transparency throughout the supply chain. We were set up in response to concerns about duplication of ethical audits, questionnaires and certificates.

“We are not affiliated to any certification body so we can really drive collaboration and best practice through the whole process. If you can reduce the burden on suppliers then efficiency increases considerably and real improvements can be made.”

Alistair Phillipson, head of corporate affairs at Capespan Ltd, which uses the system, told freshinfo: “It is an incredibly useful system - compliance, whether it be statutory or voluntary, is very important and people do very much want to know where products have been grown and see the labour assurances so it’s a simple way to obtain that information.”