Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit (SMETA) is one of the most widely used ethical audit formats in the world.
An estimated 280,000 SMETAs have been conducted to date with 93,000 of those on the Sedex Advance system.
What is SMETA?
SMETA is an audit procedure which is a compilation of good practice in ethical audit technique. It is not a code of conduct, a new methodology, or a certification process.
Using SMETA, a supplier can have one audit conducted and share it with multiple customers, rather than having a different audit conducted for each customer. The SMETA documents are designed to be used by experienced auditors in line with current established practices.
SMETA methodology uses the ETI code and local law as the measurement tool. It includes four modules:
- Health and safety
- Labour standards
- Environment (optional)
- Business ethics (optional)
Who can use SMETA?
While SMETA was developed for Sedex members, companies who are not members of Sedex are also encouraged to use it. By making SMETA publicly available we hope to promote greater transparency of audit methodology and share knowledge about auditors’ qualifications and the practices that underpin SMETA reports.
SMETA 6.0
SMETA is developed and maintained by the Sedex Stakeholder Forum (the SSF). The latest version of SMETA was launched in April 2017, with an implementation date of June 1st 2017. The companies on this working group included SGS, Amcor, Bureau Veritas, DNV, Givaudan, Kellogg, M&S, Pepsico, SAB Miller/ABInbev, and Walmart.