Key steps & timeline

In their words

Walmart_1

Rajan Kamalanathan, Vice-President Ethical Standards - Walmart

Armineh Mardirossian, Group Manager CR, Community and Sustainability - Woolworths

Ahold_1

Karin Bogaers, Advisor Product Integrity - Royal Ahold

George Jaksch, Senior Director Corporate Responsibility and Public Affairs - Chiquita

Tesco_1

Paul Dearman, International Ethical Trading Manager - Tesco

The EP in 7 steps

Estimated timelines

Key steps & timeline

The 7 key steps of the Equivalence Process

You'll find here below the key procedural steps involved in the use of the Equivalence Process (the Process flow) - click on the titles for details. You can also download a pdf version of the Process flow.

1. Starting the process

Within the Equivalence Process platform, the User:

contacts the GSCP Secretariat
prepares for its registration offline (see the preparation guide) and fills in the Registration Form online
gets recommendations from the GSCP re. which Reference tool(s) to self-assess its system against
acknowledges the Agreement for the Equivalence Process online and pays the applicable fee
receives login details to access the IT platform
signs up for the Self-Assessment

2. Self-Assessment (SA) – preparation and execution

The User:

logs into the web-based platform
identifies internally the individuals that will carry out the SA
chooses the Reference tools to benchmark its system against
performs the SA by benchmarking its internal tools against each selected GSCP Reference tool. This is an internal desktop exercise which the User can complete at its own pace. Results of this benchmarking exercise are available in real time.

3. Equivalence Assessment (EA) – application

The User:

ensures its SA is current, complete and validated internally
applies online for an EA

The GSCP:

appoints an EA Panel to perform the EA

Equivalence Assessment Panel

“Ad-hoc working groups which are formed to perform an Equivalence Assessment.”

Role

To deliver an objective assessment of the accuracy of the User’s Self-Assessment.

Selection & appointment

selected by the Executive and Advisory Board Members
appointed to perform one EA by the GSCP Director or designated representative
a User has the right to disagree with the selection of one member or more of the Panel on account of conflict of interest

Composition

1 Panel Coordinator - voting rights
2 Panel Members - voting rights
1 GSCP representative - no voting rights

Competence

Proven track record in social and/or environmental responsibility and/or related fields

4. Equivalence Assessment (EA) – preliminary review

The EA Panel:

checks the User’s SA and related objective evidence to ensure the User has provided all the relevant documents to allow the EA to be undertaken effectively
meets (virtually) to agree on a draft preliminary review. The Panel identifies where additional information and documentation is required from the User

The Panel Coordinator:

drafts a Preliminary Assessment Table, capturing the conclusions of this step including any requests for additional information and documentation

The User:

provides the requested information and documentation to the EA Panel where necessary
signs off the Preliminary Assessment Table after validation by the Panel Coordinator to allow the process to go to the next phase

5. Equivalence Assessment (EA) – Panel review

The Panel:

verifies the accuracy of the SA with the support of the Preliminary Assessment Table and additional information provided during the Preliminary review by the User
compiles its conclusions in a Final Assessment Table
signs off the Final Assessment Table

6. Equivalence Assessment (EA) – sign-off procedure

The GSCP

informs the User of the Panel’s conclusions by giving the User online access to the Final Assessment Table

Option 1 - The SA is validated with no request for change

The User signs-off the Final Assessment Table
The GSCP grants the User the right to share its EA

Option 2 - The SA requires some changes to be in line with the Panel’s conclusions

A. Agreement with the Panel's conclusions

The User:

acknowledges the conclusions of the Panel & amends its SA as recommended
has the Panel Coordinator review the revised SA to ensure it is in line with the Panel’s recommendations

The User & Coordinator:

sign-off the EA Table

The GSCP:

grants the User the right to share its EA

B. Disagreement with the Panel's conclusions

The User:

disagrees with the conclusion of the Panel and decides not to appeal

>> the Process stops

disagrees with the conclusion of the Panel and decides to appeal

>> an Appeals procedure is launched

7. Share & Compare

The User:

has the exclusive use and right to share of its validated SA
chooses who to share it with and makes contact with the selected organisation(s)
shares one to one, criteria by criteria
can do a direct comparison on the IT platform of its results with those of the other User

the Links service

The Links service enables a User which uses collaborative tools (e.g. owned by an initiative) to be granted access to the Equivalence Assessment of these tools by this initiative. Once access to these results is granted, the User will be able to share and compare these results, along with the Equivalence Assessment for its own tools (if applicable), with other Users of the platform.

Example:

Company A is a member of Initiative X. Company A has its own supplier code of conduct and uses Initiative X’s audit process.
Company B asks Company A to share and compare their Equivalence Assessments for both sets of tools (supplier code of conduct and audit process).

For the supplier code of conduct: Company A “shares and compares” directly with Company B.

For the audit process:

Company A subscribes to the Links service.
This enables Company A to ask Initiative X to share its Equivalence Assessment on the audit process with them.
Initiative X accepts and grants access to Company A to its audit process Equivalence Assessment.
Company A can then access Initiative X’s audit process Equivalence Assessment, and “share and compare” these results with Company B’s audit process Equivalence Assessment.

Access the GSCP EP platform to register for the process!

Estimated timelines

The GSCP has estimated typical timelines for the completion of each step of the Equivalence Process. Please note that these are indicative as the actual time required can depend on: the number of tools put through the Process; the complexity of the User's standards and tools; the time and resources that the User decides to allocate to the gap analysis and potential improvement actions; internal processes etc.

The picture below give a general overview of the process flow timeline - details can be found in this presentation.