Ethical sourcing of our products and services
Target acknowledges its responsibility to respect human rights and promote environmental sustainability within its supply chain.
It is committed to ensuring the workers who produce its products and services are treated with dignity and respect and can live and work in a safe and healthy environment.
During this year, Target and Kmart continued their efforts to strengthen the combined Kmart and Target Ethical Sourcing (ES) Program, which was first established in 2017. Milestones achieved this year included:
- Strengthening the environmental criteria within the ES audit checklist.
- Development of a Department Stores Standard Operating Procedure to support the program.
- Agreement on a uniform ES program scope across Kmart and Target goods for resale.
- Development of a strengthened ES approach across Kmart and Target for goods (and services) not for resale.
In addition, the Kmart and Target ES Governance Committee approved a three-year ES program roadmap. This identified six strategic areas and associated tasks to be actioned over the next three years. This will transition the program from an audit and compliance approach to a model with more focus on factory capacity building (e.g. training), supplier compliance ownership (e.g. factory ES Programs) and industry partnerships.
This year Target also joined Kmart as a buyer partner in the ILO/IFC Better Work program. This program aims to make sustainable improvements in working conditions within the garment industry and make the sector more competitive overall. Target aims to have transitioned all eligible apparel factories in Bangladesh to the program by the end of next year. The focus will then shift to transitioning Target factories in other Better Work countries, including Cambodia, Indonesia and Vietnam.
At the conclusion of this financial year, Target had 616 active factories within its ethical sourcing audit program. This and ongoing monitoring efforts identified five critical breaches of the Kmart and Target Ethical Sourcing Code in the past year. Three of these breaches related to factories offering bribes to a Target team member or third-party auditor, while two breaches related to factories subcontracting Target production to unauthorised subcontractors. All five factories will be deregistered after last shipment (meaning no further orders can be placed).
