Auditor Certification Pilot – China
The dates for our second Auditor Certification Pilot have been confirmed as 7 & 8 March 2018 in Shenzhen, China.  The pilot will have 48 participants, 24 each day, representing 29 Member Firms.  Upon arrival the participants will be allocated a number and divided into 3 groups, with each group rotating throughout the day to complete the following exams:

1.  Multiple Choice & Short Answer.
2.  Case Studies.
3.  Simulated Interviews.

The simulated interviews will be based on the following scenarios:

1.  Opening Meeting.
2.  Closing Meeting.
3.  Employee Interview.

Following the China pilot, we will be meeting with third party experts to incorporate additional learnings and determine the pass score in preparation for implementation later in 2018.  There are still a number of steps to achieve before we go live – but exciting progress continues!

Look out for our next Newsletter as we share the results of our 2nd pilot in China.

New Member
We are pleased to announce our new member:  Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance Ltd (Lloyd’s
Register).
​Welcome to APSCA !l

APSCA Registered Auditors
​We now have approx. 2,500 auditors registered from our 41 Member Firms.  Auditor information received from our Member Firms was assessed and uploaded into APSCA’s data system.  We have begun the process of having those auditors access their account, via a secure password, to complete the registration process.  This involves the completion of an on-line consent to manage their information, signed APSCA Code of Professional Conduct and to upload their image.  Once this is complete each auditor is assigned an APSCA Membership No.  They will be able to access and update their details at any time.  This work is being completed in 3 waves and is estimated to be completed by June 2018.  Following this the public will be able to validate APSCA registered auditors’ key credentials – stay tuned to our Newsletter for an update on when this will be available.

APSCA’s Code of Professional Conduct and Confidentiality Framework Agreement have been sent to all Member Firms for their signature – to review a copy of the Code of Professional Conduct, see our website:

http://www.theapsca.org/working-group.html

2018-2020 Strategy Progress
In the December Newsletter we shared with you APSCA’s Strategy Plan which consists of 5 key pillars:
​·        Validation
·        Governance
·        Compliance
·        Communication
·        Supporting Processes & Systems

We began 2018 with a great start and all elements are on time or in some cases ahead of time, with the only exception being the release of the new Confidentiality Framework Agreement which was delayed by a month due to the Christmas holiday break.

Sedex 2018 Conference
– Come by APSCA’s booth and say “Hi”!
We are proud to be supporting Sedex’s 2018 Conference, which will bring together more than 600 leaders in responsible sourcing for two days’ of discussion, insight, networking and real-world advice, all with the aim of providing practical ways to achieve impact through leadership. If you are going to be there – pop by and see us at our booth!  If you haven’t booked your ticket to secure your place at Europe’s largest responsible sourcing conference in 2018: 13th – 14th March, London, UK – see more at: http://bit.ly/2CDIvB6 

APSCA Support Statement
​Organizations providing support via the APSCA Support Statement  (that was launched last year) continues to grow.  These organizations have provided their permission to use their name / logo which you can view on our website:

http://www.theapsca.org/support-statement.html

If you would like to offer your support and have your organization’s name/ logo placed on our website, please let us know by contacting director@theapsca.org.

Out & About
Check out our “Out & About” page for photos from the great events our Members have been part of:   http://www.theapsca.org/out–about.html

Stay Up-To-Date
Visit our website www.theapsca.org to see the work-in-progress and follow us on LinkedIn.

Off To A Great Start In 2018
Last month we shared that APSCA’s 2018 – 2020 Strategy Plan had been presented to Members at the Annual General Meeting.  The pillars are:  Validation, Governance, Compliance, Communication and Supporting Processes and Systems.

The implementation plans to deliver on each of these pillars was also reviewed and approved by APSCA’s Executive Board.  Below find the key deliverables.

For further information please visit “Our Strategy” page on our website:

http://www.theapsca.org/our-strategy.html

New Member
​We are pleased to announce our membership base continues to grow.  Our latest addition is BCI Compliance Group Limited 

Welcome to APSCA BCI!

Auditor Certification Pilot – China
The dates for our second Auditor Certification Pilot have been confirmed as 7 & 8 March 2018 in Shenzhen, China.

APSCA’s Key Documents
APSCA’s Code of Professional Conduct and Competency Framework for Auditors are posted on our  website.

http://www.theapsca.org/working-group.html

All APSCA members and registered auditors will be receiving the Code of Professional Conduct for signing in the coming weeks. ​

Out & About
Check out our “Out & About” page for photos from the Annual General Meeting plus other great events our Members have been part of:   http://www.theapsca.org/out–about.html

Stay Up-To-Date
Visit our website www.theapsca.org to see the work-in-progress and follow us on LinkedIn.

Annual General Meeting – Germany
APSCA Inc’s Annual General Meeting took place in Cologne, Germany on 4 December 2017.  We had a strong attendance by members followed by an opportunity to meet each other during a casual function. A special thanks to Frank Dorssers, Angela Fernandez and TUV Rheinland for hosting us and to our members who travelled far and wide to take part.

During this meeting, the organization announced it will operate as an independent entity beginning 1 January 2018 after recently incorporating in Washington D.C. USA.   The new Bylaws were presented at the meeting, along with the 2017 Projected Financials and 2018 Draft Budget. In addition, APSCA Inc’s Antitrust Guidelines were shared with members.
 
The following members were re-elected by their peers to the Executive Board:
 
·        Frank Dorssers – TUV Rheinland – B Member Representative
·        Greg Gardner – Arche Advisors – C Member Representative
 
The 2018 APSCA Executive Board consists of:

Stakeholder Board Representatives:
Avedis Seferian – WRAP (Chair)
Wesley Wilson – Wal-Mart (Vice-Chair)
  
A Member Representatives:
Randy Rankin – Independent
Rajan Kamalanathan – BV
Kevin Franklin – ELEVATE
Christophe Liebon – Intertek (Secretary)
Pierre-Yves Dupont – SGS
Fred Waelter – UL
 
B Member Representatives: 
Antonio Astone – DNV-GL
Frank Dorssers – TUV Rheinland
 
C Member Representative:
Greg Gardner – Arche Advisors (Treasurer) 
All documents tabled at the Annual General Meeting can be found on the “Members Only” page of the APSCA website – http://www.theapsca.org/members.html

​Photos of the event can be found on our website on the “Members Only” and “Out & About” pages – all are able to be downloaded.

Auditor Certification Pilot – Turkey
A Summary Report from the recent Auditor Certification Pilot which took place in Turkey in November was shared with Members during the Annual General Meeting. 

The Turkey pilot was considered a success with answers to many questions being obtained throughout the two days.  Participants and examiners were consulted for their feedback, following each examination section, at the end of each day and a follow-up survey at the end of the two days.  Learnings were incorporated where possible for use during the second day and the remainder are being incorporated into the 2nd pilot to be held in China in early March 2018.

Following are some key highlights:

• 11 APSCA Member Firms Participated
• 31 Participants
  • 13 Female
  • 18 Male
• 23 Full-Time 
• 2 Part-Time
• 6 SubcontractorFreelance
• Number of Social Compliance Audit Days Experience:
  • Less than 50 days – 20%
  • 50 – 100 days – 10%
  • 100 – 200 days – 10%
  • Greater than 200 days – 60%

Overall Key Learnings:

• Timing of each exam 2 hours (instead of 90 minutes)
• Addition of “attitude” in overall scoring
• Inclusion of rule if late from break etc.
• Posting of rules in exam room
• Higher scores were achieved in Multiple Choice/Short Answers
• Lack of management systems or triangulation of information

Overall Opportunities:

• Translation of materials and use of local language interviewers
• Use one case study – building for each element between the exam and interviews
• Enhanced communication – APSCA and member firms

Case Study:

• Areas Correctly Identified 
  • Unauthorised sub-contracting
  • Health & Safety
  • Discrimination
• Training Opportunities for Participants
  • Management Systems
  • Migrant Labor / recruitment agencies
  • Triangulation – “Big Picture”
  • Grievance Mechanism

Interviewees:

• Positives Comments (from participants)
  • Overall positive thoughts of the process
  • Different interviewers
  • Case studies realistic, extreme but realistic
  • Length of each interview acceptable
• Opportunities (from participants)
  • Use same case study throughout the day (ie. exam and each interview)
  • Each interview to be held in separate rooms
  • Same interviewer for Opening / Closing Meeting 
  • Timing for Closing Meeting to be extended
  • Transparency in the scoring
  • Bigger breaks between the interviews (due to different scenarios being used)

Interviewers:

• Overall Comments (on participants)
  • Did not react to provocation/argument
  • Asked clarification when they didn’t understand
  • Negative attitude by some
  • Did not share non-corruption policy or communication channel
  • Problem solving ability
• Training Opportunities (for participants)
  • Listening Skills
  • Distracted by calculations and missed identifying potential issues or hearing information from the interviewer
  • Triangulation skills
  • Re-communication of key documentation / policies

Looking Back on 2017
APSCA has had a busy and successful year focusing on delivering on our mission to increase the value and effectiveness of independent social compliance audits by enhancing the professionalism, consistency and credibility of individuals and organisations performing them.  We would appreciate your joining us to celebrate a few of our successes:
​ ·       Delivered the APSCA Code of Professional Conduct (V1 – Principles)
·        Delivered the Competency Framework for Auditors
·        Completion of 1st Pilot for Auditor Certification in Turkey
·        Registered over 2,500 Auditors
·        Membership growth from 17 to 40 Member Firms
·        Incorporated as an independent organization within the USA
·        Developed and approved Bylaws for APSCA Inc.
·        Launched APSCA Support Statement
·        Implemented data system and associated policies
·        Participated in 19 Presentations / Panels / Industry events in 7 countries
·        Conducted over 200 meetings with brand / retailers / audit firms

Looking Forward to 2018
APSCA’s Strategy Plan was presented to the Annual General Meeting.  This strategy consists of 5 key pillars:
​·        Validation
·        Governance
·        Compliance
·        Communication
·        Supporting Processes & Systems
All of which leads to developing Trust in the industry which is APSCA’s vision of “Members and Certified Social Compliance Auditors are the trusted professionals of Social Compliance Auditing”.

Implementation plans, to deliver on each pillar, were discussed in detail during the Executive Board Meeting in December. Below is a summary of APSCA’s 2018 focus:
​ ·       Auditor Certification Process Pilot – China
·        Auditor Certification Process Implementation 
·        Incident Protocol Implementation 
·        Enhanced Firm Membership Approval Process Implementation 
·        Members to securely access their information in the APSCA database
·        Ability for public to validate member credentials via website

Out & About
Check out our “Out & About” page on our website for photos of the Annual General Meeting plus other great events that our Members have been part of:   http://www.theapsca.org/out–about.html

​Thank You!
A big thank you to all our members and stakeholders who have contributed to our success, either via your membership, the various working / consultation groups, Support Statement or spreading news of our work. Your continued participation and interest in APSCA is appreciated and we look forward to working with you all in 2018.

​Season Greetings from the APSCA Inc. Team!
From left: Kerrie Baylis, Rona Starr & Julie Shaw

 Auditor Certification Pilot Turkey – Update
We are excited to be sending an interim Newsletter to provide you with an update regarding the Auditor Certification Pilot which took place this week in Istanbul, Turkey.

 The pilot took place over 2 days, with different participants each day.  Upon arrival the participants were allocated a number and were divided into 3 groups.  Each group then rotated throughout the day to complete the following exams:

1.  Multiple Choice & Short Answer.
2.  Case Studies.
3.  Simulated Interviews.

The simulated interviews were based on the following scenarios:

1.  Opening Meeting.
2.  Closing Meeting.
3.  Employee Interview.

We appreciate the 11 member audit firms that sent their auditors to participate and the 31 auditors that were so willing to spend the day helping us to improve and refine the process.
Day 1 ran well but as you would expect, we experienced a few logistical learnings which we were able to modify throughout the day, seeing a smoother run for Day 2.

We consulted with the participants  and refined the scenarios for the simulated interviews and improved and aligned our scoring .  We were then able to successfully test these throughout Day 2.

Whilst being without phones all day proved challenging for many, we did all survive through to the end of the day!
Our next steps include reviewing and consolidating the learnings and results from the various exams and will share more in our December Newsletter and at the Annual General Meeting in Germany next month.

A big thank you to all of the auditors who participated who completed multiple exam types in technical English.  We appreciated that for most English was their second language and therefore made for a more challenging day.

Day 1 Participants

Individual Interviews

On-Line and Case Study Exam

Day 2 Participants

Thanks to our fabulous interviewers for your efforts over the last two days!

Auditor Certification Pilot Update
We are excited that the pilot for the APSCA Auditor Certification process will take place in Istanbul, Turkey on 9 & 10 November 2017.

Initially, the pilot was to also take place in China the following week, however, following a very productive Executive Board Meeting, it was determined that a postponement will enable us to focus on one event, take key learnings and effectively recalibrate and adjust the process where required before the pilot in China.

The response to participate in the pilot process was positive with over 100 people applying from 26 of our Member Firms.  The auditors selected to participate have a wide range of experience; from less than 1 year to more than 20 years, less than 25 audits to more than 200 social compliance audits, wide spread of education and workplace experience in addition to audit experience.  At least one auditor was selected from each member firm who applied.
The Pilot Exam in Turkey will take a full day and be divided into 3 sections. Upon arrival the participants will be divided into 3 groups and rotate to ensure they complete all 3 sections within the day.
          1.0  Multiple Choice & Short Answers
           2.0  Case Study
​           3.0  Simulated Interview 

 The Simulated Interview group will be divided into 4 groups for different scenarios.  These scenarios have been developed with clear scoring criteria being used by each interviewer.  These scenarios are:

      1.       employee interview
      2.       opening meeting
      3.       closing meeting
      4.       management interview

In order to capture feedback, we will be holding debrief sessions throughout the day with each group and as a collective group at the end of each day. 

We will share more about the pilot performed in Turkey in next month’s newsletter. 

Public Comment – What’s Next?  
As we mentioned in September’s Newsletter, we had a great response to our Public Comment invitation.  The Working and Consultation Groups have discussed the feedback received and to recommend further refinements to the documents.​
The Executive and Stakeholder Boards met the week of 23 October 2017 in the USA to finalise both the APSCA Code of Professional Conduct and Competency Framework for Social Compliance Auditors, and are continuing to make progress.  

More to come and we appreciate all the support received thus far.

Executive Stakeholder Board Meeting, USA, October 2017.  
From Left:  Jonathan Ivelaw-Chapman (Sedex), Laura Chapman Rubbo (The Walt Disney Company), Rochelle Zaid (SAAS), Christian Ewert (FTA), Darrel Doren (BSCI), Christophe Liebon (Intertek), Betty Hutchison (Bureau Veritas), Avedis Seferian (WRAP), Rona Starr (APSCA), Rajan Kamalanathan (Bureau Veritas), Fred Waelter (UL LLC), Randy Rankin (Independent), Petra Herbertz-Crumpler (Walmart), Effie Marinos (SGS).
Photo taken by Greg Gardner (Arche Advisors).

New APSCA Members
We are excited to announce that APSCA membership continues to grow. We have 6 new APSCA members to announce this month:  API Audit Limited, Globalgroup of Companies Limited, Hong Kong Quality Assurance Agency, Partner Africa, SIPAS CR-PERU and The British Standards Institution (BSI Group)  

This now brings our membership to 40.  

Welcome to our new members!

General Meeting 2017
A reminder for APSCA firm members that our 2nd General Meeting is scheduled in Koln, Germany on 4 December – 13:00 – 15:00 with time following for everyone to meet and mingle over a light afternoon beverage.

Please follow the link below to our website for further details and to register your participation no later than 30 October 2017 –
http://www.theapsca.org/general-meeting-registration.html

Note:  the password for this page was detailed in the email invitation forwarded to all members.  Should you need this password again please email us:  director@theapsca.org
​

APSCA Support Statement
As launched in last month’s Newsletter, the APSCA Stakeholder Board has developed a Support Statement following many requesting how they could more formally offer their support to APSCA’s efforts, beyond the working/ consultation groups.  Please find a copy of the Support Statement on our website: http://www.theapsca.org/support-statement.html
We continue to receive more and more supporters providing their permission to use their name/ logo and would welcome even more of you!  If you would like to offer your support and have your organization’s name / logo placed on our website, please let us know by contacting director@theapsca.org
 

BSR Conference 2017
​BSR held their conference “How Business Leads” in Huntington Beach, California this month. 

APSCA was pleased to participate in a panel focused on “Integrating Sustainability through Risk and Opportunity”.  It was also a great event to catch up with APSCA members.

To see more, check out our “Out and About” page on our website: 
http://www.theapsca.org/out–about.html

Public Comment Update
As scheduled, the Public Comment survey for our draft APSCA Code of Professional Conduct and the Competency Framework for Social Compliance Auditors closed on 31 August 2017.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to provide feedback.  We were very excited to have over 70 people/ groups respond and from such a broad range including representatives from auditors (which included employed, freelance and sub-contractors), audit firms, brand/ retailers, consultants, NGO and manufacturers. 

Whilst the satisfaction rate for the documents was 90+%, obviously there were still a few that were dissatisfied and we appreciated the fact that they were able to clearly articulate where they saw the gaps and we are now in the process of reviewing these.

Highlights of the comments:
·     Reader did not review the Competency Framework – many of their comments would have been answered through reading both documents.
·     How will APSCA validate the Code is being upheld and the auditors meet the expectations within the Competency Framework.
·     How will APSCA investigate allegations of failing to uphold the Code.
·     More detail for each section of the Code, ie. examples, what does good look like?
·     Suggest Separating the Code – Auditors and Audit Firms.
·     Concerns that the Competency Framework is setting a global strategy for a few large firms and attempting to lock out smaller firms.
·     Will APSCA produce a separate Competency Framework for the Audit Firms?
·     Will APSCA determine how audit reports should be scored, centralize the collection of audits and set standard, hold calibration sessions, set time period to upload reports etc.?
·     APSCA to develop a professional / knowledge center.
​
Response:
Whilst the documents were out for Public Comment, we began the work to define an objective process for receiving, managing and conducting investigations on complaints. 

Also under development is the examination format/ questions which will be piloted in November in Turkey and China.

The Rules, which were part of the Code development process completed by Working Group 3, were removed for Public Comment as they were not quite ready late June, however, this is part of our next step.

There will be two codes, one for Auditors and one for Audit Firms.

We have not discussed two Competency Frameworks, however, we will consider this as we will consider a professional/ knowledge center and how this fits within APSCA’s strategy.

It has not been the intent that APSCA will determine how audit reports are scored, to centralize the collection of audits or set standards, nor does APSCA intend to specify the length of time between the audit being conducted and the report uploaded.  This is the role of the Initiative, Brand/ Retailer and beyond what we see the overall expectations of APSCA are.

Again, we thank you for all the feedback.  This is a major milestone for APSCA and we look forward to keeping our members up-to-date in the coming months regarding the finalpublished documents.  Should you have additional questions please email us on:  director@theapsca.org

New APSCA Members
APSCA continues to grow and we are pleased to announce 8 new members this month:   ALGI International Inc., Best Compliance Limited, Centre Testing International Group Co., Ltd (CTI),​ CSR Certification and Solutions Limited,  Globalgroup Certification Limited, Leverage Limited, Madeown International Testing Certification Inc. and QMSCERT Audits Inspections Certifications Ltd (Q-CERT).   

This now brings our membership to 34 with many other membership applications in progress.

Welcome to our new members!

General Meeting 2017
A reminder for APSCA members that our 2nd General Meeting is scheduled in Koln, Germany on 4 December – 13:00 – 15:00.

Please follow the link below to our website for further details and to register your participation no later than 30 October 2017 –
http://www.theapsca.org/general-meeting-registration.html

Note:  the password for this page was detailed in the email invitation forwarded to all members.  Should you need this password again please email us:  director@theapsca.org

APSCA Support Statement
​The APSCA Stakeholder Board has developed a Support Statement following many requesting how they could more formally offer their support to APSCA’s efforts, beyond the working/ consultation groups.  This has been officially launched this week and you will find a copy of the support statement on our website: http://www.theapsca.org/support-statement.html​
We are very excited to have a number of supporters from around the world provide permission to use their name/ logo and would welcome even more of you!  If you would like to offer your support and have your organization’s name / logo placed on our website, please let us know by contacting director@theapsca.org

BSR Conference 2017
The BSR 25th anniversary Conference, “How Business Leads”, will be held 24 – 26 October in Huntington Beach, California, USA.

APSCA will be presenting as part of the panel focused on “Integrating Sustainability through Risk and Opportunities” on Wednesday 25 October 4.15pm.
 If you are able to join the session please come and say “Hi”.

To learn more follow this link:  http://bsr17.org/

Stay Up-To-Date
Visit our website www.theapsca.org to see the work-in-progress and follow us on LinkedIn.

Public Comment Invitation
Draft Code of Professional Conduct & Competency Framework for Social Compliance Auditors

As per our announcement in the APSCA June 2017 Newsletter, APSCA has now released for Public Comment the draft APSCA Code of Professional Conduct and the Competency Framework for Social Compliance Auditors.

We are excited to have reached this milestone and invite all stakeholders in the social compliance industry to provide feedback as we near the finalization, release and implementation of the certification process for social compliance auditors.

Follow the link to our website to log your feedback via survey monkey:   http://www.theapsca.org/public-comment.html
Please note the surveys will be open until 31 August 2017.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us:  director@theapsca.org

APSCA Implementation Team
With the progress towards public comment for the draft APSCA Code of Professional Conduct (Code) and Competency Framework Social Compliance Auditors,  APSCA has commenced work on the implementation process for the Auditor Certification process.

We have received interest from some wanting to participate on the consultation group – if you are interested please let us know by emailing director@theapsca.org.  We appreciate support from member firms, brands, retailers, schemes, initiatives and any interested party.  Whilst this is being developed for certification of auditors, we appreciate and need feedback from those that will be the user and receiver of the services provided by the auditors.​
We anticipate the ask to be a couple of 1 hour phone calls over the coming few months plus request for feedback to documentation as it is being developed.  The goal is to pilot the examination process during Q4 – specific country(s) TBA.
Look forward to having your participation as we continue to move forward.

APSCA Annual General Meeting

The APSCA Annual General Meeting will be held on the 45 December 2017 in Cologne, Germany.  All members are invited to participate in the General Meeting and more information will be shared with members in the coming weeks.

​Out & About
Remember to view the “Out & About” page on our website and send any photos of APSCA members attending meetings, conferences and forums.  We want to share all the great work you are doing.   Check it out!    http://www.theapsca.org/out–about.html

Should you have any photos to share, please email us at director@theapsca.org

​APSCA Membership
Our Membership is continually growing, and we look forward to announcing our new member in the August edition of our Newsletter. For more information on becoming a member of APSCA, please see our website: http://www.theapsca.org/membership.html or email: director@theapsca.org

Public Comment Invitation
Draft Code of Professional Conduct &
​Competency Framework for Social Compliance Auditors

As you are aware, APSCA has been moving towards its Mission “To Enhance the professionalism and credibility of the individuals and organsations performing independent social compliance audits”. This has involved APSCA utilizing Working and Consultation groups, which comprised of industry experts and practitioners, who have been integral in the development of the APSCA Code of Professional Conduct and the Competency Framework for Social Compliance Auditors.

We are excited to be opening these draft documents for Public Comment to ensure all stakeholders in the social compliance industry have an opportunity to provide feedback as we near the finalization, release and implementation of the certification process for social compliance auditors.

Please follow the link to the Public Comment page on our website to log your feedback:  http://www.theapsca.org/public-comment.html

Please note the surveys will be open until 31 August 2017.

New Member Firm
APSCA’S Executive Board is pleased to announce a new member firm this month; LSQA.  This brings our total firm membership to 24.
APSCA’s membership is continuing to grow with another three firms undergoing the application process, which includes Third Party Due Diligence and an interview to ensure all our members meet APSCA’s standards.
Welcome LSQA to APSCA!

For more information on becoming a member of APSCA, please see our website: http://www.theapsca.org/membership.html or email: director@theapsca.org

APSCA – Executive Board Meeting
The APSCA Executive Board met in London in June to review the Code of Professional Conduct and Competency Framework for Social Compliance Auditors and prepare for the release of those documents for public comment.

Left to Right:  Wesley Wilson, Avedis Seferian (APSCA, Chair), Rona Starr, Greg Gardner, Antonio Astone,
​Pierre-Yves Dupont, Frank Dorssers.
Absent from Photo but present at the meeting:  Randy Rankin, Betty Hutchison, Christophe Liebon & Fred Waelter.

APSCA’s Work-In-Progress
With the progress towards public comment for the draft APSCA Code of Professional Conduct and Competency Framework for Social Compliance Auditors,  APSCA hosted a session to brainstorm what Implementation and a pilot could look like.  This team met 14 June in London and had productive discussions to move this work forward.

The session comprised of representatives from Arche Advisors, DNV GL, Elevate, GSCP, ICS, LRQA, Sedex, SGS, Walmart, WRAP and APSCA.

Left to Right:  Alberto Sartori (DNV), Kevin Franklin (Elevate), Cecile Huertas (ICS),  Sonja Schmid (GSCP),  Wesley Wilson (Walmart), Randy Rankin (Independent),  Rona Starr (APSCA), Avedis Seferian (WRAP), Effie Marinos (SGS).
Absent from photo but present at the meeting:  Greg Gardner (Arche Advisors), Ged Farmer (LRQA),
​Jonathan Ivelaw-Chapman (Sedex) and Peter Marriott (SGS).

​FTA (BSCI) Unleash Opportunity Conference
APSCA attended the BSCI Meeting in Brussels in June 2017 where 3 members / stakeholders participated on the “Planning for 2030 – The Future of Supply Chains and Auditing” discussion panel.

Left to Right:  Jonathan Ivelaw-Chapman (Sedex), Christophe Liebon (Intertek), Ian Spaulding (Elevate).

APSCA Auditor Round Table Sessions
APSCA conducted “Auditor Round Table” sessions during June in Paris, London, Shenzhen and Shanghai.  This was an opportunity for us to share the progress which APSCA has made as well as discuss the draft Code of Professional Conduct and Competency Framework for Social Compliance Auditors, gather feedback and answer their questions. 

Discussions were robust and productive and gave APSCA the forum to meet face-to-face with our Member Firms, local managers and auditors, which is invaluable to our ongoing progress.
​
Thanks to all that attended these sessions!

Launch of “Out & About”
We have created a new page on our website to showcase the numerous meetings, conferences and forums our member firms attend.  Check it out!    http://www.theapsca.org/out–about.html

Should you have any photos to share, please email us at director@theapsca.org

New Member Firm
APSCA is pleased to announce another new member firm: Verner Wheelock Associates Limited.  This takes our membership to 23.
​ We welcome Verner Wheelock and look forward to their contribution moving forward.

​
​New Sedex Representative on Stakeholder Board
Jonathan Ivelaw-Chapman (CEO, Sedex Group) has joined the Stakeholder Board representing Sedex.  Sedex are committed to APSCA’s mission to enhance the professionalism and credibility of the individuals and organisations performing independent social compliance audits. 

Welcome Jonathan! 

Sedex Responsible Sourcing Conferences
In April May, APSCA participated in the three Sedex Conferences held in London, Shanghai and Sydney.
​These presented great opportunities to talk and network with a range of stakeholders in the industry and to promote the benefits membership to APSCA brings.  Brands were particularly interested in understanding APSCA’s work and the credibility it will bring to social compliance auditors via the certification process. 

Rona Starr (APSCA) presenting at the Sedex Conference in April in London, UK.

Amy Yan (SGS) supported Rona Starr (APSCA) at the Sedex Conference in May in Shanghai, China.

Sedex Conference in May in Sydney, Australia. 
Left to Right:  Richard Boele (KPMG Australia), Rona Starr (APSCA), Andrew Martin (Foreign Trade Association),
​David Mullen (Simplot Australia).

Intertek Ethical Sourcing Forum
​APSCA were proud to participate at the Intertek Ethical Sourcing Forum in New York on 5 May to share and discuss APSCA’s progress towards the development of a certification process for social compliance auditors.  Our panel was made up of members from both our Executive and Stakeholder Boards.

Left to Right:  Rona Starr (APSCA), Wesley Wilson (Walmart), Avedis Seferian (WRAP), Laura Rubbo (The Walt Disney Company), Greg Gardner (Arche Advisors), Christophe Liebon (Intertek).  Photo taken by David Schilling (ICCR).

​Annual Members’ Meeting – Social Labor Convergence Project
The Social & Labor Convergence Project is facilitated by the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC).  The Annual Members’ Meeting was held in Bangalore, India in May which was attended by APSCA’s Executive Board Chair, Avedis Seferian and Tara Holeman, APSCA Working Group 1 member. 
The Sustainable Apparel Coalition’s vision is of an apparel, footwear, and home textiles industry that produces no unnecessary environmental harm and has a positive impact on the people and communities associated with its activities.

Avedis Seferian (APSCA Chair) and Tara Holeman (Working Group 1 member) presenting at the Annual Member’s Meeting in Bangalore, India.

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New APSCA Members
APSCA’s Executive Board are pleased to announce the acceptance of 3 new member organisations, bringing APSCA’s membership to 22.  The new members are Counter Human Trafficking Compliance Solutions, Extensive Standard Technical Services Co., Limited (ESTS) and Openview Service Limited.    

These new members have demonstrated the competencies required via an application process, Third Party Due Diligence and an interview, to ensure all members are professional organisations which meet APSCA’s standards.

APSCA is very excited to be growing at this pace, having 9 founding members in August 2016 and growing to 22 in April 2017.

Please join us in welcoming our new members!

New Stakeholder Board Member
​APSCA is pleased to announce that Betsy Borrelli, Senior Vice President & Partner – FleishmanHillard New York has joined APSCA’s Stakeholder Board.

Elizabeth (Betsy) Borrelli has more than 20 years of global experience focused on issue, reputation and crisis management. This includes stakeholder engagement, communications and corporate social responsibility. She is known for creating strategic alliances and mobilizing, leading and managing multi-stakeholder groups and internal cross-functional teams in addressing complex issues and initiatives. Her work has spanned across the consumer product, pharmaceutical, apparel, airline and financial services sectors.  

Industry Meetings
APSCA’s Executive Director was privileged to be invited to present “What’s New Within APSCA” at both the Sedex Stakeholder Forum and AIM-Progress meeting, held in London in early April.

Rona Starr, Executive Director APSCA, presenting at the AIM-Progress Meeting (photo taken by Transitional Media.

We also participated in two very informative sessions hosted by KPMG.  The first was held in the House of Lords in London and later that day in the KPMG offices in London.  These sessions focussed on Human Rights – Risk to People or Risk to Business?    Both events started with an informative opening by Lord Dr Hastings of Scarisbrick with reflections by various people including Richard Boele (Head KPMG’s Global Business & Human Rights Network).

For access to “Addressing Human Rights in Business, Executive Perspectives”  click the link below:

Addressing Human Rights in Business – Executive Perspectives

Closing out the week, APSCA participated in a working session with 20 other organisations, hosted by Consumer Goods Forum focusing on Forced Labour. 

We are very excited about the opportunities to meet, hear what others are working on and discussing ways in which we can work together for the greater good of our industry and to improve the overall lives of those which we come into contact with.

Lord Dr Hastings of Scarisbrick CBE, Global Head of Corporate KPMG
and Rona Starr, Executive Director APSCA.

APSCA Milestones
In February we published our milestones for how we were going to achieve our goal of establishing a certification process for Social Compliance Auditors.  We have been tracking very successfully towards that goal, however, as we continued to make progress we realised the need to make a few changes to our plans.  Our enhanced milestone goals see us taking all 3 Working Groups out to Public Comment in June, instead of our original plan of going individually – starting in March.  So whilst it may be perceived as having missed a major milestone, this change will actually see us finalise earlier than anticipated. We are very grateful to our Working Group members as well as our Consultation Group members for their continued participation and feedback, which sees us grow and succeed.

Below are our updated High Level Milestones or refer to our website www.theapsca.org

To receive up-to-date information regarding APSCA and our work in progress visit our website www.theapsca.org. Ensure you sign-up to receive our newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn if you haven’t already!  ​