September 27th, 2017
September 27, 2017
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.
