The Common Framework for Responsible Purchasing Practices

The Common Framework for Responsible Purchasing Practices is a reference point for companies working to improve their purchasing practices and for Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives supporting their member companies in implementing practical improvements in purchasing, to increase the scope for improved working conditions in supply chains.

Read the full updated framework

The framework is based on a benchmarking of existing documents and standards of the involved MSIs and others that published recommendations on responsible purchasing.

The framework has been written with reference to existing documents from these organisations and others and also builds on recommendations by the ‘Sustainable Terms of Trade Initiative ’ (STTI), which is led by the STAR Network (Sustainable Textile of the Asian Region), the International Apparel Federation (IAF) and The Better Buying Institute, supported by GIZ FABRIC. The framework has been shared for public consultation and feedback, and those suggestions have been evaluated and integrated where appropriate to produce the updated framework.

Public consultation on the Draft Framework

The MSI Working Group that developed the draft framework conducted an online consultation between November 2021 and January 2022. The Working Group has finalised the document, after evaluating and incorporating feedback from a wide range of stakeholders. 34 organisations actively contributed with detailed suggestions and proposals to the updated framework.

A summary of the feedback given and how it has been integrated can be found here. A release statement can be downloaded here.

The updated version of the framework can now be used and implemented by the MSIs and their members as well as other companies who are taking action to improve purchasing practices. The MSI Working Group hopes it will also be used as a reference point by other organisations and policymakers.

Implementation by the Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives

The Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives involved will support their member brands and retailers to achieve meaningful, step-by-step progress, using the framework as a reference point, aiming to integrate it into their own implementation systems, with flexibility in how this is done by different MSIs. The journey towards implementation of this framework will look different for each brand and retailer depending on their starting point, business model, size, sector, operational context, ownership, structure and supply chain composition.