Export Pass Interpretation of SA8000

Recently, Fan Xuanzhang, general manager of Yaoming Paper Co., Ltd., an enthusiastic reader of "Printing Manager", provided a noteworthy message: another international standard system SA8000 has quietly appeared in Shenzhen, Guangzhou and other places. In the printing industry, there are already Some export-oriented enterprises began to pay attention to this trend. According to media reports, Wal-Mart and Carrefour have begun to cancel supplier qualifications for companies that fail to meet the requirements of SA8000. That is to say, European and American countries may have to raise the stick of SA8000 to Chinese export companies and enforce their requirements.
So, what exactly is SA8000? What impact will it have on Chinese export companies?

True form

SA8000 (Social Accountability 8000) is the corporate social responsibility standard. It is the world's first social ethical responsibility standard and has been used as a third-party certification standard. It mainly examines whether the company is in conformity with the basic standards for protecting human rights and can be implemented in all industrial and commercial fields around the world. SA8000 aims to ensure that the products provided by manufacturers meet the socially recognized responsibility standards, and promote enterprises to meet established standards in labor rights and working environment.

The International Organization for Social Responsibility (SAI) in New York, USA is currently the only SA8000 international unified certification body in the world. The social responsibility standards it has introduced are taken from the International Labour Organization Convention, the United Nations Common Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which mainly include , Forced labor, health and safety, freedom to organize trade unions and the right to collective bargaining, discrimination, disciplinary measures, working hours, wages, management system and other nine aspects.

At present, SA8000 is gradually recognized by the international community. The German Importers Association has formulated the "Social Responsibility Code of Conduct" to review the social behavior of its suppliers in accordance with the SA8000 standard. The guidelines may also be adopted by importer associations in France and the Netherlands. It is reported that some trade organizations in the United States, France, and Italy that have long-term procurement of Chinese light industrial products are also discussing an agreement that requires Chinese textile and toy manufacturers to pass SA8000 certification as one of the criteria for selecting suppliers. SA8000 may eventually be widely accepted by the international community as ISO9000 and ISO14000. In other words, SA8000 is coming to us unstoppably.

Blessings

So, what will SA8000 bring to China, what role does it play, whether it is a stick or a lever, a bitter medicine or a good medicine, a threshold or a ticket?

As a standard, first of all, SA8000 will undoubtedly restrict the enterprises, so it will definitely have a restrictive effect on China's export enterprises.

The most direct impact is naturally that some factories that do not meet SA8000 standards have been disqualified as suppliers. In the past two years, some multinational retail groups such as Wal-Mart in the United States and Carrefour in France have increased their direct procurement in China. When choosing suppliers, they not only value the quality and price of products, but also attach great importance to labor welfare issues. Some Chinese companies were disqualified as suppliers because they failed to meet the requirements of SA8000; at the same time, a few companies were discouraged due to the high requirements of SA8000 and cumbersome inspection.

In addition, organizing production in accordance with SA8000 standards will increase operating costs. At present, some labor-intensive enterprises in China still have serious problems such as long working hours, low employee benefits, and poor living environment. To fully meet the SA8000 standard, large investment is required to improve. This will inevitably increase the cost of the product. For enterprises in China that mainly use low prices as a competitive weapon, it will greatly reduce the competitiveness of their products.

"The scourge is where the blessing is." Disqualification of suppliers is indeed a fatal blow for companies. But we must see that this consequence is due to the failure to pass the certification of social responsibility standards, but the audited companies can get more orders. In other words, as long as the company meets the SA8000 standard and passes the certification, it is equivalent to getting a pass to the international market.

From a long-term perspective, to develop a company, first of all, it is necessary to strengthen the requirements on itself and the sense of responsibility to the society. The SA8000 will be used as an external force to promote and supervise this. Passing the SA8000 standard will bring many values ​​to the company, such as improving the company ’s social image, gaining export competitive advantages, optimizing and stabilizing customer relations, improving the relationship between the company and the public, government and civil organizations, attracting talents and giving full play to employees Creativity and so on. Therefore, the SA8000 certification system is by no means just a threshold. It is the same as the ISO9000 and ISO14000 that we are familiar with. It is also a ticket for enterprises to enter the international market.

The issue that SA8000 is concerned with is a question that Chinese enterprises and Chinese society must and are paying attention to. Some US government officials commented on the labor issues of Chinese companies: "If Chinese companies do not fundamentally improve the labor situation, it will be difficult to maintain long-term competitiveness and it is impossible to obtain equal rights with companies in other countries." Even without SA8000, After all, winning at a low price is not a long-term solution. This is a pain that Chinese export companies have to face sooner or later.

Soldiers will block

SA8000 is coming, what should Chinese enterprises do?

Knowing oneself and knowing the other is a battle of victory. To cope with it, of course we must first recognize it and our own situation. The first thing Chinese companies have to do is to fully understand the objective existence and importance of SA8000. SA8000 is bound to gradually become one of the main obstacles to the export of China's labor-intensive products. We must have an objective and accurate understanding of this.

The most direct response measure is of course to improve the production environment and working conditions of the enterprise in a timely manner, improve the treatment of workers, and reach the SA8000 standard. Enterprises should actively participate in and strive to pass the SA8000 certification to improve the one-sided view of the labor situation in China in Western countries. In particular, it is necessary to pay attention to the product certification requirements of the countries of export trade, and manufacture and provide products according to the standards required by importers. Of course, the product cost will increase immediately, and the competitive advantage in price will be lost, so improving the competitiveness of the product is the most fundamental and difficult problem. China's export enterprises should pay attention to timely adjustment of quality strategy to speed up the transformation of the structure of exported commodities to deep-processed manufactured products; grasp the development trend of science and technology, accelerate the transformation of scientific and technological achievements and the introduction of technology, and improve the technological content and added value of products. To fundamentally break through the SA8000 trade barriers, we must take the road of emphasizing technology and quality, and improve the competitiveness of enterprises as a whole.

Stones from other hills, can learn. We can also learn from the advanced management methods of enterprises in Western countries. For example, adopting a performance reporting model that combines finance, environment, and social responsibility to publicly and transparently publish the comprehensive effects of enterprise operations to the society, so that enterprises can win the trust and support of the public.

Another more cunning way is to actively strive to become an agent of the SA8000 certification authority abroad, accepting commissioned inspection, factory inspection, product certification and other services. Since the inspection results issued by these institutions are internationally authoritative, if this can be done, it will not only help the enterprises themselves to eliminate trade barriers, promote and strengthen the export of products, but also help Chinese enterprises to break through the SA8000 barriers as a whole.

As relevant experts told us, SA8000 is not a beast of floods, we must face it and face ourselves, and actively take countermeasures to change it from a stick to a lever, from a bitter medicine to a good medicine, from a threshold to a ticket.

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