GSCP General & Members' Meetings

Future Meetings

Members' Meeting 2012: April 17 & 18, Shenzhen - China

Objectives

The GSCP runs annual General Meetings. These meetings are open to all Task Force members, Advisory Board members as well as companies that are interested in learning more about the Programme and in exchanging knowledge and best practices.
Since September 2008, the GSCP has also opened the first day of its General Meetings to other stakeholders to allow them, along with businesses, to share their expectations and concerns on the Programme’s current work and next steps. The aim is:

to gather stakeholders’ objective recommendations to integrate into the GSCP Working Plan
to improve the efficiency of outcomes for the Expert Working Groups
to enable a flow of ideas between stakeholders, businesses and the Programme.

Stakeholders are any person, group or organisation with an interest in, or who may be affected by, the activities of the GSCP. These include Trade Unions, Non Governmental Organisations, International Organisations, Initiatives, Trade Associations, Service Providers and Certification Bodies.

Participation in General Meetings is by invitation only.

The GSCP also now organises members-only meetings to gather members’ feedback and input on the structure and content of the Programme's strategy going forward.

Former meetings

GSCP 2011 General Meeting - San Francisco, 31 October and 1 November 2011

31/10 | GSCP induction session

01/11 | main meeting session

GSCP 2011 Members' Meeting - Brussels, 14 April 2011

The members' meeting was articulated around 3 main topics: (1) GSCP strategy, (2) the GSCP Equivalence Process and (3) GSCP global reach and outreach. These sessions included roundtable discussion, designed primarily to gather members’ feedback and input on the structure and content of the Programme's strategy going forward. Here is a condensed view of what GSCP members heard and discussed that day:

Session 1: GSCP strategy – achieving the shift from framework building (the reference tools and Equivalence Process – enabling convergence in requirements and comparability of systems) to collaborative work on remediation and capacity building. Part of this strategy revolves around addressing, in the GSCP framework, significant endemic issues requiring cross‐industry guidelines, through multi-participant Centralised Expert Working Groups. Attendees discussed this strategy and provided input on selected remediation and capacity building topics identified for potential focus.

Session 2: the GSCP Equivalence Process (EP) – the EP Expert Working Group and GSCP team presented the result of their 2 years work on the EP, with the IT platform hosting the process in its final stages of development. Attendees heard how Expert Working Group companies are going to make use of the EP, and understood how a widespread use of this tool will allow objective assessment and facilitate overall upgrade of internal compliance systems, improving quality and reducing duplication in auditing and contribute to setting the stage for sustainable remediation and capacity building in their supply chains.

Session 3: GSCP global reach and outreach – ensuring the Programme’s geographical focus is in line with member companies’ needs and interests, and that relevant key stakeholders are involved to support the objectives of the GSCP in remediation and capacity building on the ground. This included discussion on the establishment and structure of Regional Clusters as regional / local implementation platforms for capacity building projects and guidelines as developed by the Centralised Expert Working Groups.

The discussions and work accomplished will serve as a basis for the strategy and work of the GSCP going forward.

GSCP Autumn 2010 General Meeting - New York, 1 - 2 September 2010

Day 1 - introduction to and update on the GSCP

- Phase I: Building the Programme

- Phase II: Update on the GSCP Expert Working Groups, including:

- Auditing Competence

- Management Systems

- Environmental Module

- Equivalence Process

Day 1 was concluded by a presentation by John Robinson, VP for Global Conservation for the Wildlife Conservation Society on Corporate Engagement with Conservation.

Day 2 - defining together the potential for collaboration - topical sessions

This day was structured around 3 topics, which were each addressed by one or more introductory presentations followed by roundtable sessions and reporting by participants. The subjects tackled and presenters were the following:

Management Systems in Global Supply Chains
- Deanna Robinson, Gap Inc
- Rajan Kamalanathan, Wal-Mart
- Zoe McMahon, HP
- Marcela Manubens, Phillips-Van Heusen
Data Sharing
- Landscape of ethical data sharing platforms: Paul Dearman, Tesco
Implementing the Environmental Module
- Betsy Blaisdell, Timberland

The insights gained through each roundtable session will be instrumental in defining next steps for the programme and help define where collaboration can be fostered.

GSCP Spring 2010 General Meeting - London, 20 - 21 May 2010

Day 1 - introduction to and update on the GSCP

- Phase I: Building the Programme

- Phase II: Update on the GSCP Expert Working Groups, including:

- Auditing Competence

- Management Systems

- Environmental Module

- Equivalence Process

along with a presentation on a Data Sharing pilot project led by 4 GSCP member companies in India and Bangladesh

- Phase III: GSCP Strategic Framework

Day 2 - Business presentations on approaches to ethical trading issues

'Strengthening migrant worker protection in the supply chain', presented by David Arkless, Manpower
'Working with smallholders', presented by Stephan Morris, Blue Skies
'Environmental management in the adidas supply chain', presented by Karin Ekberg, adidas
'Grievance mechanisms - Tesco / UN South Africa pilot', presented by Giles Bolton, Tesco
'Recognising the contribution of homeworkers', presented by Derek Jackson, Monsoon Accessorize
'Working in conflict countries: Chiquita's dilemma in Colombia', presented by George Jaksch, Chiquita

GSCP Fall 2009 General Meeting - San Francisco, 19 - 20 October 2009

On the first day of the meeting, members of GSCP Expert Working Groups reported on the activity of the Expert Working Groups on:
- Audit Process and Methodology
- Auditor Competence
- Environmental Module and
- Equivalence Process.
This session helped ensuring that expectations of all interested parties are integrated into the GSCP working plan. The open discussion following each presentation helped spell out priorities and identifying potential concerns.

On the second day, a Workshop on the role of business in social and environmental sustainability took place.
This session aimed at showcasing five case studies on the continuous improvement of working and environmental conditions led by companies or group of companies.
The following topics were presented:

'Wal-Mart Sustainability Index' presented by Rajan Kamalanathan, Wal-Mart
'Addressing Child Labour in Sugarcane Harvesting' presented by Genevieve Taft, The Coca-Cola Company
'Carrefour Sustainable Development - Self-Assessment Tool for private label suppliers' presented by Véronique Discours-Buhot, Carrefour
'SAI’s Rating System & Vendor Capacity Building Program' presented by Darryl Knudsen for Gap, Inc.
'Learning through doing - model factory programme' presented by Louise Nicholls, Marks & Spencer

GSCP Spring 2009 General Meeting - Paris, May 2009

On the first day of the meeting, stakeholders and company representatives had the opportunity to share their expectations and concerns on four of the GSCP’s current and future steps:
- Remediation (with a specific focus on Child Labour),
- Auditor Competence,
- Data Sharing,
- Equivalence Process.
A workshop on Remediation took place on the second day, during which a series of brief presentations were given by company representatives followed by discussions. Topics discussed were:

‘The Cultivar Project’ presented by George Jaksch, Chiquita
‘Worker hotlines: lessons from operating grievance procedure mechanisms in Supply Chains’ presented by Stephen Frost, CSR Asia
‘How HP tackles emissions in Supply Chains’, presented by Bonnie Nixon, Hewlett Packard
‘Child labour Remediation in India’ presented by Greg Priest, IKEA
'CSR in Primary Production’ presented by Johann Züblin, Migros
‘Purchasing Practices: Small and practical changes to help suppliers’ presented by Terry Babbs, Tesco
‘Wal-Mart Supplier Development Program’ presented by Rajan Kamalanathan, Wal-Mart

GSCP Fall 2008 General Meeting - September 2008, San Francisco

On the first day of the meeting, stakeholders and company representatives had the opportunity to share their expectations and concerns on all of GSCP’s current and next steps.
A workshop on Remediation took place on the second day, during which a series of brief presentations were given by company representatives followed by discussions. Topics discussed were:

‘Bangladesh social responsibility - Training at suppliers benefits workers at all levels’ presented by Véronique Discours-Buhot, Carrefour
‘Building internal support & collaboration’ and ‘Working with trade unions’ presented by George Jaksch, Chiquita
‘Collaborative Supplier Capability Building Models - Central Europe, China, Mexico and Thailand’ presented by Bonnie Nixon, Hewlett Packard
‘Beyond compliance – Measuring our community impact’ presented by Terry Babbs, Tesco
‘Brand collaboration – the Levi’s experience’ presented by Michael Kobori, Levi’s
‘Collaboration – Uzbek cotton’ presented by Rajan Kamalanathan, Wal-Mart

GSCP Spring 2008 General Meeting - March 2008, Paris

Participating companies met in Paris to further discuss and focus on two topics: Buying Practices and Working Hours.

GSCP Fall 2007 General Meeting - October 2007, Paris

Participating companies developed 9 potential collaborative actions around 6 key topics: Factory Management Practices, Buying Practices, Living wage, Working Hours, Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining and Child Labour.