Madison Dialogue Manufacturing Committee Procedures:
Introduction:
This post was circulated internally among the participants of the Madison Dialogue Manufacturing Group before the onset of our discussions. My apologies for posting it out of sequence.
A second document, below this post, states the goals in a simple format. This came out of our dialogues.
What is not mentioned at this early point is the following of ISEAL guidelines. Amanda raised point later and it was adopted by our group.. — Marc
The work of the Madison Dialogue Manufacturing Working Group* derives out of an industry wide recognition that there is a growing market interested in a supporting a greater level of corporate socially responsibility through their purchases.
Many in the jewelry sector are already branding themselves as “eco-friendly,” or “fair trade” with various degrees of transparency. The work of this committee is to legitimize those efforts which are credible through a third party certification process.
The ultimate goal is to create a certification agency that produces a product far beyond the “fair trade” label. Studies have shown https://fairjewelry.org/archives/97 that consumers wish to make their own assessment as to whether something is “fair,” or “green” or “ethical” themselves. The certification agency will draw on principles in the areas of environmental protection, human rights, sustainable development, and fair trade.
The committee will do the ground work which will ultimately enable customers to click on a logo on a web page which will take them to a specific website, which will allow them to see the actual study, including comments, photos and perhaps video of the factory. In this regard, the model will be based less on just a logo than an actual report. Butter Business Bureau is a good example of this:
http://www.bbbsw.org/BBBWeb/Forms/
Objectives
The Manufacturing Committee has three objectives:
1. To develop fair trade based principles which lead to specific objective criteria for environmental, corporate social responsibility, and working condition for jewelry manufacturing facilities in the developing world.
2. To create a working group that will visit factories and objectively evaluate the fair trade standards.
3. To publish these standards online, on a website which will allow those who work with the factory to link directly to that site, offering third party verification to legitimize claims of “fair trade” or “ethical” practices.
Leadership of Committee and Participation
We recognize that there will be many different levels of participation. Casting a large net creates greater legitimacy for our work. We are going to do our best in invite a wide diversity of participants.
The initiators of this document are Amanda Stark, the Rapaport Group Fair Trade Development Liaison, Marc Choyt, President of Reflective Images Inc, and Demos Takoulas, CEO of Vukani-Ubuntu. Anyone who wishes to join this steering committee who is currently part of the Madison Dialogue is welcome. The steering committee is limited to seven people.
The purpose of this steering committee is to draft documents, set deadlines, call consensus and to ultimately develop funding and brand identity for what we hope will become a vibrant, non-profit organization created to validate the fairly manufactured jewelry. The steering committee will also initiate proposals for discussion, assure that all opinions are respectfully heard, set deadlines and call consensus.
We seek to have a diversified group which would include representatives from various sectors. Sectors which we hope to see represented include but are not limited to: manufacturing, civil society, and environmental protection.
Forum for Discussion
The initial discussion will take publicly on the blog, www.fairjewelry.org. This is a temporary home for this discussion. Ultimately we will create our own website. The purpose of putting it on this blog is to legitimize the process by making it completely transparent. Those who post comments will be required to first create a profile. Anonymous posts will not be accepted.
Proposed Initial Steps
These proposed steps are only a broad outline that we will put forth initially. We realize that over time, issues will come up that will need to be covered.
1. We will call for participants and ask them to create a profile which will be published online.
2. We will begin our process of developing principles based on fair trade practices and in reference to parallel efforts.
3. We will begin to develop standards, specifically a list that can allow for test studies.
4. We will seek funding for initial case studies of factories.
5. We will publish those studies and the work of the manufacturing committee on its own website.
Proposed Decision Making Model for the Manufacturing Committee
We will strive to reach consensus at every step of the way. However, recognizing that consensus may not always be possible, we propose that a two thirds vote of the manufacturing committee will be sufficient for us to move forward with a decision.
The committee decisions will be posted on the blog along side of the minority decent, if the minority wish to write one.
POSTED 5/19/08
HERE IS ANOTHER WAY OF VIEWING THE WORK OF THE COMMITTEE
There are factories and workshops that currently already work their hardest to create jewelry produced with environmental responsibility and fair labor practices. Some members of our group run such factories.
I see our objective as not to transform the entire jewelry sector’s manufacturing base or solve its greater socio-economic problems, but to support exemplary small scale and large scale studios and factories in the international jewelry manufacturing sector.
Whether a factory chooses to work with our principles and standards will always be voluntary. Support means that we offer suggestions to run a workplace that is safer and has less environmental impact. We pool our knowledge and help each other, here and abroad, to be the best we can.
Support also means that we drive business to them by “certifying” them. Ethical initiatives in the jewelry sector only work if they are market supported. “Fair made”, (if we choose that term), manufacturing can be part of their product’s unique selling point. The market demands are there — they just lack the proper infrastructure and certification that distinguishes legitimate efforts from those who are fair washing and green washing.
Over time, the prosperity of these exemplary factories will make other factory owners want to clean up their act or obtain our certification.
Our website will post studies of each factory and have detailed, transparent information so that the customer can learn about the issues and make their own evaluation. In my view, this is more potent than a label from a fair trade organization that says, “fair trade certified” like you see on coffee.
I recognize that there are myriads of issues that need to be considered as we move forward. Yet I also believe our objective is simply to create a set of principles and standards where this can take place.
This humble goal is obtainable with the good will and focused efforts of our group.
Thank you for your participation.
Cheers,
Marc
