The Green Room

Working to enhance our ethical sourcing program

By Rajan Kamalanathan on January 22, 2013 Leave a comment

As a global retailer, we are committed to value chains that empower the people who work in them, and the families that are supported by them, to live better.  Our dedication to responsible sourcing includes both raising our own standards and partnering with other stakeholders to improve the standards and opportunity for workers across the industry.

The fire and tragic loss of life at the Tazreen factory in Bangladesh has brought to the forefront a number of opportunities for improving the safety standards of our global supply chains. In an effort to continue to raise those safety standards, we recently distributed a letter to all our suppliers globally to inform them of a new zero-tolerance policy for unauthorized subcontracting, as well as related ethical sourcing program enhancements.

These new policies are designed to strengthen compliance of important safety standards around the world.

But we know that we cannot do this alone. Our objective is to work with like-minded companies to raise the bar for the entire industry.  We recently shared the new policy with NGOs, companies, and government officials to get their feedback and direction.

Program enhancements like this are the first steps of many as we work to create more transparent and productive supply chains that increase opportunity for those who work in them. To read more about our recently announced enhancements and other Ethical Sourcing initiatives, please visit us at http://corporate.walmart.com/global-responsibility/ethical-sourcing.