Five agriculture companies achieve Milestone 1 in the Fair Labor Accreditation process

Five member companies from FLA’s Agriculture Program have achieved Milestone 1 in the Fair Labor Accreditation program, demonstrating continuous commitment to working towards ensuring fair labor practices in their commodity supply chains: Balsu (hazelnuts), Nespresso (coffee), ofi operations in Türkiye (hazelnuts), Sabirlar (hazelnuts), and Yavuz Gıda (hazelnuts).

Each FLA company pursuing Fair Labor Accreditation in agriculture moves through a series of milestones in order to achieve accreditation for the in-scope commodity program. Milestone 1 considers a company’s activities related to governance and internal alignment: it must have developed a human rights due diligence (HRDD) system to oversee the implementation of labor standards for in-scope commodities, based on a commitment to human rights, a risk assessment, and consultation with international civil society organizations. In addition, the company must have aligned its standards to FLA standards, developed a time-bound plan for achieving full supply chain traceability, and started publicly disclosing its sourcing profile for in-scope commodities.

“Reaching Milestone 1 in our Agriculture Program is a significant achievement. We’ve seen a strong, public commitment from these companies’ leadership teams, and across all levels of their organization, to implementing workplace labor standards and prioritizing human rights in their supply chains,” said FLA President and CEO Jeff Vockrodt. “These companies are at the forefront of developing systems that improve their business policies and practices, while directly benefiting workers. We congratulate each of these five members and look forward to their continued progress and leadership.”

FLA’s Agriculture Program represents a rigorous evaluation of a member company’s HRDD systems for compliance with the Principles of Fair Labor and Responsible Sourcing for Agricultural Supply Chains and the FLA Workplace Code of Conduct for the Agriculture Sector.

These standards are designed to protect workers in member companies’ global supply chains and are based on international practices and norms, including guidance from the International Labour Organisation, the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct, and the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark. Each principle is supported by a set of benchmarks and key performance indicators that define what companies must do to successfully implement our standards.

Companies achieving Milestone 1 will continue to move through the Agriculture Program’s Milestones 2-5, with a goal of achieving Fair Labor Accreditation for their global commodity programs.

View the reports:

• Balsu: Milestone 1 Evaluation
• Nespresso: Milestone 1 Evaluation
• ofi hazelnut operations in Türkiye: Milestone 1 Evaluation
• Sabirlar: Milestone 1 Evaluation
• Yavuz Gıda: Milestone 1 Evaluation