Sedex 4Pillar

Sedex (the Supplier Ethical Data Exchange) is a global membership platform for ethical supply chain data, and SMETA — the Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit — is its main audit methodology.

A 4-Pillar SMETA audit assesses a factory across four areas in a single visit: Labour Standards, Health & Safety, Environment, and Business Ethics. Results are logged on a shared platform that buyers and auditors can both reference, instead of every brand commissioning its own separate audit.

The environmental and business-ethics pillars are what set it apart from a purely labour-focused audit — it looks at waste handling, environmental permits, and anti-bribery practices alongside working conditions.

Like BSCI and ISO 9001, this is a factory-level standard that applies across our supply chain rather than to one specific product line.