Global Sourcing Principles
First published in 1999, our Global Sourcing Principles are applied whenever we buy products and services.
These Principles set down our requirements for suppliers to comply with all relevant local and national laws, particularly on: working hours and conditions, health & safety, rates of pay, terms of employment and minimum age of employment. All our products must be labelled with the country of production and many food products have further information about raw materials. This in itself is a unique approach for a large-scale retailer. It means that customers have the necessary information if they want to avoid goods produced in a certain country because of political or social beliefs.
As our relationship with a supplier develops, we expect them to improve working conditions in line with the more demanding standards promoted by the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), a collaborative group of companies, trade unions and human rights groups set up by the UK Government. Marks & Spencer joined the ETI in 1999. These standards, known as the ETI Base Code, can be found on our website.