The Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) was founded in March 2003 by a small group of European retailers in order to harmonise their respective social compliance schemes. It is led by the FTA (Foreign Trade Association). Their common code of conduct, based on the ILO core conventions and SA 8000, has grown to cover a broad number of sectors. The association now comprises over 1000 firms, associations and organisations of all sizes, from multi-nationals to small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) across all EU member states. BSCI also established a monitoring system, covering (non-mandatory) self-assessment and an initial external audit to the code of conduct, resulting in possible corrective action plans. Progress is then re-checked in an external re-audit. BSCI conducted an achievement study to celebrate its ten-year anniversary, which is available on their website. BSCI also releases monthly newsletters on topical issues in the responsible sourcing world, the latest on wages, which is available from their homepage.
