Due diligence
We manage and maintain the Factory Standards Programme, which is our primary tool and framework for our supply chain due diligence.
Due diligence in Tier 0 and Tier 1 means that we manage and mitigate the risks posed by doing business in this scope. To do this, we conduct regular risk assessments of our human rights, environmental and chemical risks and use those assessments to guide our work with supply chain partners, to update our policies, factory assessment criteria and methodology, and invest resources in risk mitigation.
We develop and enforce standards of conduct to ensure our suppliers and their factories operate in accordance with safety and international welfare standards.
With the Supply Chain Due Diligence Report 2024-25, BESTSELLER aims to provide stakeholders, including industry partners, NGOs, and regulatory bodies even more detailed insights into its due diligence approach and efforts in reducing the environmental and social impact of the factories where our products are made.
Factory Standards Programme
Audits and assessments
The Factory Standards Programme is our primary tool and framework for our supply chain due diligence. At BESTSELLER, all approved production units are subject to the programme, which means they are subject to audits and assessments by our in-country teams or 3rd party auditors. These regular assessments are conducted to check that these factories are complying with our code of conduct as well as social, labour, environmental and chemical requirements.
The Factory Standards Programme is a continuous quality assurance process that requires documentation collection, worker interviews, and on-site visits from either our local teams or third-party assessors. The data from each factory assessment is fed into our internal information systems. This data serves as the basis for our Social & Labour and Environmental & Chemical Ratings, which are shared with our colleagues at brand level to help them make informed purchasing decisions, and place orders with the best performing suppliers within those criteria.
The findings from the assessments are also used for our colleagues to engage directly with our suppliers and factories to improve the issues highlighted at the assessment. Through capacity building, knowledge sharing and training, the supplier is equipped to better prevent and mitigate the assessment findings in the future.
We have our own local specialist Social & Labour Teams and Chemical & Environment Teams in our main sourcing countries (Turkey, China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and Myanmar), counting approximately 45 full time colleagues.
Identifying human rights risks
BESTSELLER conducts annual risk assessments of our human rights risks.
This risk assessment is primarily focused on the risks of adverse impacts on people that BESTSELLER can cause, contribute to, or to which we are linked by our Tier 0 and Tier 1 business partners. The scope of this assessment covers all sites where BESTSELLER production takes place, which include facilities working with cut, stitch, weave/link/knit, iron, pack embroidery, laundry, printing, dying, tannery, assembly, electroplating, casting, upper manufacturers, sample room, warehousing, and homeworker facilities.
When conducting our annual risk assessment, we consider the severity and likelihood of these issues and our leverage. We draw on a range of sources such as data from our Factory Standards Programme, stakeholder and local NGOs and trade unions views, as well as desktop research such as analysis of external datasets like human rights indices.
Under the scope of this human rights risk and salient issues assessment, we have identified numerous issues.
- Child labour
- Forced Labour
- Migrant labour
- Private Employment Agencies
- Responsible sourcing for homeworkers
- Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining
- Sexual Harassment and Gender-based violence
- Occupational Health & Safety
- Wages
- Working Time
And in high-risk regions, such as Myanmar we have conflict-specific risk regarding
- Support to non-state armed groups
- Support to illegal security forces
With each of these risks, we review our policies, assessment methodology, remediation and mitigation efforts, to ensure they meet guidance on best practice, and we dedicate the resources needed to address the risks.
We are developing specific actions for each of these priority areas. For example, in some areas we have developed issue-specific policies (e.g. Migrant labour) and standard operating procedures for specific issues and with others which are more systemic in nature we’re participating in multi-stakeholder initiatives (e.g. wages).
Risks to human and labour rights are not static, and advice on how to address them is continually evolving. We will regularly review our human rights due diligence setup to make sure we adequately address the salient risks through our mitigation efforts.
Our Social & Labour Requirements are designed to address the identified salient risks among our tier 0, 1 and 2 supply chain production units. Our assessment therefore covers over 150 indicators of risk during on-site visits.
Data from each factory assessment is fed into our internal information systems, as the basis for our Social & Labour Factory Rating and our Social & Labour Supplier Rating, which is then provided to other business functions, including buying teams, to help brands make informed purchasing choices.
We adopt a consistent and holistic approach to supply chain management. We assess human rights risks, focusing on issues like forced labour, health and safety, gender-based violence, discrimination, labour rights, freedom of association, and migrant labour.
We identify and monitor environmental risks in our supply chain and use the insights from independent specialist consultants to upgrade our factory assessment methodology, policies, and environmental risk mitigation work going forward. And we measure performance through our Supplier Environment Rating and focus on environmental impact initiatives where they can make a difference.
Where a factory’s assessment reports show room for improvement, a Corrective Action Plan (CAP) is created, and our local colleagues visit the factories and provide them with guidance and training to make sure the necessary improvements are made and implemented according to the CAP.
BESTSELLER has been active in Myanmar since 2014. Since then, our due diligence has increased year on year, and with the unrest and instability following the coup in 2021, BESTSELLER has continuously monitored the situation in Myanmar closely – to act accordingly in line with the occurring situation and to make sure that our corporate social responsibility meets the highest international standards.
As part of our commitment to responsible business conduct, BESTSELLER has published a region of heightened human rights due diligence report, which offers transparency into our comprehension and approach to heightened due diligence in Myanmar. The report’s aim is to provide clarity on the measures undertaken to promote, protect, and remedy human rights concerns in this region.
Bangladesh is an essential country in BESTSELLER's global supply chain. BESTSELLER sources from 99 factories employing an estimated 350,000 people in the country.
Given BESTSELLER’s significant business presence in Bangladesh, the ongoing political instability and associated risks necessitate a continuous assessment of emerging threats to human rights and a proactive approach to human rights due diligence.
As part of its commitment to responsible business conduct, BESTSELLER has published an enhanced human rights due dilligence report, which details BESTSELLER’s enhanced focus on human rights, steps taken to mitigate identified risks and expectations for suppliers.