The Dutch Agreement on Sustainable Garments and Textile (AGT) has expanded its assessment framework with a practical explanation of each assessment criterion to clarify what is expected of participating companies.
The assessment framework is fundamental for the AGT secretariat when annually assessing the participating companies. It gives practical substance to the OECD guidelines for international responsible business conduct (RBC).
The document explains not only the assessment framework itself but the tools and surrounding processes as well. The parties to the Agreement consider it important to be transparent about what this process looks like, AGT says.
It adds by providing each question with clear assessment criteria, it becomes more transparent how the assessment of a company is structured. It has also become clearer what the consequences are if a company does not meet the criteria. Then it is possible, for example, to engage the independent Complaints and Disputes Committee.
The AGT expects that with approaching legislation at EU level regarding due diligence, the document will be useful for companies (both SMEs and large companies) outside the AGT and for other sectors.
With regards to the topic of living wage, companies are assessed more sharply than before. They must provide explicit insight into the difference between the paid (minimum) wage and the living wage.
The standards of international RBC incorporated in the assessment framework and its implementation are primarily in accordance with the OECD Guidelines. This was confirmed by an extensive analysis the OECD conducted in 2020, according to the AGT.
