Board & Staff

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Introduction

WRAP's origins trace back to a multi-stakeholder engagement exercise in the late 1990s that involved extensive consultations with brands/retailers, suppliers, NGOs, academia, and government officials. The result was the formulation of 12 Principles to tackle sweatshop conditions in facilities around the world, and the creation of an independent, non-profit organization (WRAP) to promulgate and monitor compliance with those Principles, free of government or corporate influence. At the time of its founding in 2000, WRAP's 12 Principles were drawn from the spirit or language of relevant conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO). Subsequent revisions have drawn on additional resources in the form of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)'s Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. The current version of the standard can be found here.

WRAP has maintained a multi-stakeholder approach to standard setting and revision ever since. As part of its internal management systems, WRAP regularly conducts a thorough review of its Certification Program to make updates as needed to adapt to the changing social compliance landscape. All stakeholders are also welcomed to provide feedback on the Certification Program anytime, independent of the scheduled two-year review cycle, by directly contacting WRAP's Senior Director of Compliance Assurance, Ms. Hong Mei (hmei@wrapcompliance.org).

Process for Standard Setting/Revision and Stakeholder Consultation/Feedback

WRAP policies mandate a re-examination of its Certification Program at least once every two years; should circumstances warrant, WRAP also conducts this exercise more frequently. The process includes a thorough review of the 12 Principles, the WRAP Audit Report Template, and the standard operating procedures of the Certification Program, for any necessary updates to address new and evolving developments in social compliance auditing. The methodology employed requires WRAP to carry out a multi-stakeholder consultation process, including seeking feedback from WRAP's monitoring partners, brands/retailers, facilities, NGOs, and academia. Depending on the situation, consultation with independent third-party experts might also be involved.

To aid in the process, WRAP has two standing bodies as resources - the Monitors' Council (comprised of WRAP-accredited third-party monitoring firms) and the International Advisory Group (comprised of sourcing/supply chain professionals and academia) - which meet on an annual basis (even in non-review-cycle years). Ultimately, WRAP, and its Certification Program, is governed by an independent Board of Directors, which is itself a multi-stakeholder body; current members include representatives from NGOs, brands, academia, and retired government officials (WRAP's Bylaws mandate that its Board of Directors' must always have a majority of its members coming from outside the sewn products industry).

Between formal review cycles, WRAP's own staff are constantly gathering topics and information for consideration during the next revision exercise, through ongoing knowledge sharing, training, capacity building, and dialog with monitoring partners, facilities, industry associations and brands/retailers. Emphasis is given to feedback obtained during audits and assessments, including from workers in the facilities (WRAP staff reviews every single audit report as part of the certification process).

WRAP certified facilities must fully comply with WRAP's 12 Principles during their certification period or they may be subject to decertification. A facility may be decertified under the following circumstances:

• Violations involving Zero Tolerance issues
• Failure to allow auditors to conduct a Post-Certification Audit (PCA)
• Refusal to go through a remediation process to correct non-compliances found during a PCA
• Failure to correct non-compliances found during a PCA in a timely manner

There are three levels of WRAP certification - Platinum, Gold and Silver. The certificate issued to a facility is determined by WRAP and depends on the extent to which the audit indicates full compliance and management commitment to the WRAP Principles

If at any time WRAP learns that any factory in the WRAP program is actively participating in or associated with any of the below Zero Tolerance issues, the factory will be automatically decertified (if applicable) and banned from the WRAP program in all capacities without the option to return nor be certified in the future.

• Deliberate and ongoing human rights violations including:
  • Child labor, including the worst forms of child labor (slavery, forced labor, trafficking, serfdom, debt bondage, prostitution, pornography, work that involves children in illicit activity, or work that is likely to harm the child physically or morally)
  • Forced labor (bonded labor, not allowing workers to leave at their own will, forced to work overtime)
  • Inhumane treatment (use of threats of physical harm or extreme intimidation, corporal punishment, mental or physical coercion)
• Unethical actions that encourage the auditor(s) to compromise their integrity
• Threatening physical harm towards the audit team
• False representation of certificate or audit report (i.e. altered or fake certificates or reports)
• False representation of production processes (i.e. hiding full/partial production floors and/or processes from auditor)

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The WRAP Logo, WRAP Certified Facility Logo, and the Made in a WRAP Certified Facility Logo are the exclusive property of Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP). WRAP certifies socially responsible factories in the global sewn products sectors. The Logos are available for use by parties who make, buy, or sell products made in WRAP certified facilities. The Logos are also available for use by Monitors and other WRAP partners to show their support and association with WRAP.

Where used, the Logos must be reproduced as shown below. Where possible, the trademark credit line should be cited as well. In all instances of use, care must be taken to ensure the significance of the Logo is put in its proper context; in particular, it should be clear that it is not being used to make a product quality claim (for instance, if the Logo is to be placed on a product, then the user should utilize the "Made in a WRAP-certified facility" version of the Logo).

Additional use conditions for some Users include:

Production Facilities - A production facility may use the WRAP Certified Facility Logo so long as the facility holds a valid WRAP certification. The facility must maintain full compliance with WRAP's 12 Principles during its certification period. The facility or facility group has the responsibility to ensure that the WRAP logo's use is limited to the certification period. Facilities may use the Logo on websites, business cards, social media, and other related media. 

Buyers (Brands and Retailers) May use the WRAP Logo on consumer goods, packaging, websites, social media, corporate social responsibility reports, and related materials if facilities producing such goods are WRAP-certified and remain WRAP-certified as described above.  

Monitoring Firms may use the WRAP Logo on their website, business cards, promotional materials, and social media provided the Monitor is WRAP accredited while the WRAP Logo is in use.