To participate in Business Social Compliance Initiative, companies and associations are required to first become member of the Foreign Trade Association. There are two forms of membership in the FTA:

• Ordinary members can be (I) companies with commercial and related trade activities worldwide and (II) trade associations. Ordinary members have full membership rights and are able to vote in the FTA General Assembly.
• Associate members are any other organisation or natural persons who do not meet the criteria of ordinary members but support the goals of FTA*. Associate members have limited membership rights, meaning that they cannot vote in the FTA General Assembly.

*Companies whose main activity is manufacturing in defined risk countries are not eligible for any kind of FTA membership.

The fee for BSCI does not only cover BSCI services but also entitles companies to benefit from trade policy services. Please visit the FTA website for more information.

Please download BSCI services and fees for more information about joining BSCI.

Benefits

As a BSCI participant, you have the opportunity to:

• Use an effective and well-established system to improve working conditions in your supply chain
• Access comprehensive auditing tools available in more than 20 languages to ensure a consistent monitoring of your supply chain
• Ensure the high quality of your audits by accessing the BSCI international network of accredited auditing companies
• Benefit from the producer database gathering audit information thus gaining time and money by avoiding multiple auditing of the same factory
• Access common training activities organised for BSCI participants in Europe and for their producers in sourcing countries
• Dialogue and cooperate with stakeholders at the European and producer country level
• Engage in a broad network of CSR managers to share and further develop best practices in the field of social compliance
• Participate in the development of BSCI
• Receive regular information updates on news and events in the social compliance field
• Benefit from a personal relation with your BSCI member relation officer who will support you in maximising your involvement in BSCI 

Criteria and Procedure

To join the FTA please first complete an application, this will be sent for approval by the FTA Board of Directors. Application can be completed via an online registration system available on www.fta-intl.org. If the membership declaration is received latest on 22nd of the month, and accepted by the FTA Board of Directors, membership will be effective from 1st of the following month.

Applications can be completed via an online registration system which must be done without interruption. Before processing, you should gather the following documents and information:

• Company turnover: Official documentation about your company’s last available annual turnover as mentioned in the annual accounts; for privately owned companies which don’t disclose their annual turnover, an indication of the applicable turnover bracket is required
• VAT number: VAT number of your company
• Details of main contact person: Name of the person in your company who will be the main contact person for the respective FTA services (BSCI and/or International Trade Policy) and the person who will participate in FTA General Assemblies with the right to vote on behalf of your company
• The declaration of membership must be signed by the CEO of your company

Obligations

As a BSCI participant, you are expected to: 

• Integrate the BSCI Code of Conduct in core business: All BSCI participants accept that the BSCI Code of Conduct becomes part of their sourcing activities and is adopted in their buying practices. This measure effectively ensures that they commit to implement the Code in their supply chain.
• Demonstrate concrete involvement of producers: Our participants commit that within 3 1/2 years, after having joined BSCI, they have to involve at least 2/3 of their producers in the BSCI auditing system. This commitment is regularly checked. We have a strict procedure for ensuring that companies fulfil this obligation. See the commitment formula.
• Share audit results: The BSCI database contains information about BSCI audit results which are shared exclusively between BSCI participants. The database avoids multiple auditing of the same producers and help to track non-compliances found in audits while simultaneously indicating where capacity building for producers is needed.
• Engage time and effort with the BSCI: Top management has to back the entire approach of the companies’ commitment to corporate social responsibility, and set responsibilities, in particular those of buyers, which have to be defined within the company. Buyers play a key role and have a responsibility for monitoring social performance of producers as it is as important as price, quality and delivery time.
• Communicate about the involvement: The BSCI encourages its participants to actively communicate about their BSCI activities. Transparency is a key for credibility – this involves information about the BSCI involvement but also which concrete measures have been taken in terms of monitoring and empower of producers.
• Be active in the BSCI governance and in a National Contact Group: The representatives of BSCI participants are shaping the BSCI through their active participation in the governance structure. This guarantees that the BSCI reflects the needs and take the input of its participants into consideration in decision-making process. In several countries, National Contact Groups are another platform to exchange experience with other participants.

Annual Fees

The FTA membership fees are detailed below. Companies with a turnover below 500.000 Euro are not eligible for the BSCI service. The annual turnover refers to the last financial year. These figures may yearly be amended.



The fee for BSCI does not only cover BSCI services but also entitles companies to benefit from trade policy services. For more information about the FTA, please visit the website: www.fta-intl.org.