How we comply...

...with Defra's Green Claims guidance.

defra green claims guidance

In February 2011 the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (defra) published their Green Claims Guidance.

LOFA decided that the Made Aware scheme would comply with the guidelines set out in this document.

The specific requirements of the guidance for environmental claims, and how Made Aware complies with these are set out opposite.

The content of any claim must be relevant and reflect a genuine benefit The scheme covers the entire life story of products and focuses on major potential impacts.
Our claims do not refer to overall environmental status, but to improvement activity.
Members have provided evidence to support each claimed improvement.
The Made Aware expert panel must consider each improvement to be ‘worthwhile’.
Details of each improvement are posted in the Case Studies section.
Claims must be presented clearly and accurately The claims we make are truthful, accurate, specific, unambiguous, and have supporting information.
Claims must be substantiated Detailed information about each claim is provided on this website.
All documents relating to each claim are archived.
A selection of claims are checked by third party inspections.
The Green Claims Guidance also lays down acceptability criteria for schemes such as Made Aware.  The ways in which Made Aware complies with these are set out in the table below.
There should be wide and thorough consultation on the criteria to gain certification Over the four years that Made Aware has been under development we have met and consulted with over many organisations and individuals involved with environmental, supply chain and worker conditions issues.  In addition we have conducted both qualitative and quantitative research with consumers, and held consultative meetings with relevant retailers.
There should be independent auditing or third party verification of the scheme All decisions relating to the granting of the right to use the Made Aware label are taken by an independent panel of supply chain improvement experts.
The process used to operate the scheme should be open and transparent A diagram of this process is shown below.
Usage of the label should be controlled Acceptability rules have been developed that cover how member companies may use the Made Aware label, and what they may say in their publicity about it and the scheme.
There should be inspections to ensure that the requirements and improvements are being met A system of inspections has been set up, that is independent both of Made Aware, and the experts who award the labels.  A summary of the results of these inspections will be published on this website.
There should be the potential for the right to use the label to be withdrawn Situations and behaviour that will result in the right to use the Made Aware label have been identified and defined.  

The right to use the label is only granted for one annual season.  Unless member companies come forward with additional implemented and evidences improvement each year they will automatically lose this right.

One of the requirements of Defra’s Green Claims Guidance is that schemes such as Made Aware should be open and transparent about how they operate.  To comply with this here is the process that we use to run Made Aware.

Click the following thumbnail image to view the Made Aware Operating Process.

The Made Aware independent experts

The right for products to display the Made Aware label is awarded once their supplier has made a worthwhile improvement that can be documented. Because of the complexity of such issues, a panel of independent experts assess the overall contribution that the improvement has made. The experts who constitute Made Aware’s decision making panel are shown below.

Martin Cooke

Clare Lissaman

Martin works for the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), an alliance of almost 100 companies, specialised labour rights organisations and development charities, committed to improving the working lives of the people who make consumer goods, everything from tea to T-shirts, from flowers to footballs.

Martin spent five years with Tesco, developing company-wide policies in areas including food safety, animal welfare, sustainability and ethical trade, before moving into international development.

Originally a country vet, Martin is currently Vice-President of the Zoological Society of London, one of the world’s leading wildlife conservation organisations.

Muriel Johnson

Ethical Trade Specialist

Muriel Johnson

Muriel works at the Supplier Ethical Data Exchange (SEDEX). She has recently retired from Marks and Spencer plc where, as Social Compliance Manager, she spent 7 years implementing the M&S code of ethical conduct in their supply chain. During this period she was also on the board of ETI for 4 years.

During her time at M&S Muriel created a social compliance management system recognised as a "best in class". She also acted as the team leader within a group of suppliers who implemented the procedures that had been developed. As a direct result of this work Marks and Spencer received the Dow Jones sustainability award for Most Sustainable Retailer in 2004 and 2005.

Clare Lissaman

Clare Lissaman

Clare is a consultant on sustainable trade with a particular focus on labour standards in global supply chains and fair trade.

Clare works with a range both corporate and charitable clients: developing and implementing strategic ethical trading programmes – particularly with regard to sourcing from Asia; delivering training on social accountability and social auditing, and conducting research on sustainability, labour standards, fair trade and poverty. Clare has particular expertise and experience in working with small and medium sized enterprises.

She was formerly the UK director for RUGMARK - the certification, labelling and development initiative working to end exploited child labour in south Asia's rug industry.

A trained social and environmental auditor, Clare has a breadth of knowledge and experience in the challenges of building up sustainable supply chains and a passion and belief that trade can, and should, benefit poor communities.

Clare is a board member of the Ethical Fashion Consultancy, part of the non-profit Ethical Fashion Forum and was on the steering committee of the Decent Work and Labour Standards Forum.