Mutual Recognition of supplier audits is a founding pillar of AIM-PROGRESS. "An audit for one is an audit for all" is one of tenets of the initiative, which seeks to drive convergence of member companies' responsible sourcing standards, as well as reduce audit burden on suppliers, who are often confronted with multiple requests from customers. To this end AIM-PROGRESS members share a list of suppliers which have been audited by them over the last three years (without however divulging the brand manufacturer who commissioned the audit). If a company finds a supplier which has already been audited by another company, it can ask the supplier whether he would be prepared to make this audit available to them, instead of having to undergo another audit. This can save between 20% and 50% of audit needs, as some companies have reported. The latest shared list contains just short of 13,500 records and has been compiled by 23 participating companies. For more information on how mutual recognition works, please go to the webpage on Mutual Recognition.
