Verify an ethical apparel manufacturer by asking for three things: current certificates with numbers and expiry dates, the full audit report rather than the summary, and the scope statement naming which legal entity and site was assessed. Then confirm each certificate directly with the issuing body. Certificates name a facility and a date, not a supply chain.
That last sentence is where most sourcing decisions go wrong. A buyer receives a PDF, sees a recognised logo and files it as proof. What the document actually proves is narrower than the logo suggests, and the gap between the two is where compliance risk lives. For the environmental side of the picture, our guide to sustainable apparel production and eco-friendly clothing manufacturing covers materials, water, chemistry and waste. This piece is about verification.
What is the difference between a certification and a social audit?
A certification means an accredited body has assessed a site against a published standard and issued a certificate with a number, a scope and an expiry date. You can verify it with the issuing body. A social audit means an auditor visited a site, worked through a checklist and produced a report. There is no certificate and often no pass or fail.
The distinction matters commercially. A certificate is a claim the factory can make. An audit report is evidence you have to read. SA8000, WRAP, GOTS and Fair Trade Certified are certifications. SMETA and amfori BSCI are not: Sedex states plainly that neither Sedex membership nor a completed SMETA audit is a certification, and that there is no pass or fail in the methodology (Sedex). amfori is equally direct that amfori BSCI is not a standard, qualification or certification system (amfori).
A factory that says it is “BSCI certified” is using language the scheme owner does not use. That is usually sloppiness rather than deception, but it tells you how carefully the factory reads its own compliance documents.
Which schemes should a sourcing manager actually know?
| Scheme | What it covers | Who audits | How often | What it does not cover |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WRAP | Facility compliance with 12 principles: forced labour, child labour, harassment, compensation, hours, discrimination, health and safety, freedom of association, environment, customs and security (WRAP) | WRAP-accredited independent monitoring firms | Certificates valid one year, with random unannounced post-certification assessments during the term (WRAP) | Upstream mills, dyehouses and farms. Product chemistry. Tiered Gold and Platinum certificates were discontinued from 1 March 2026 (WRAP) |
| SEDEX / SMETA | An audit methodology. Two-pillar covers labour standards and health and safety. Four-pillar adds environment and business ethics. SMETA 7.0 released June 2024 | Sedex Affiliate Audit Companies | Buyer-driven, commonly annual. Only Sedex members may commission a SMETA | It is not a certification and produces no score or verdict. Findings are non-conformances for you to judge |
| amfori BSCI | Monitoring against a Code of Conduct covering 13 Performance Areas: management, worker rights, pay, hours, safety, environment and ethics | amfori-approved audit companies | Cyclical and buyer-driven | Not a certification. Produces an A to E rating weighted towards child labour, bonded labour and occupational health and safety questions |
| SA8000 | Nine elements: child labour, forced labour, health and safety, freedom of association, discrimination, disciplinary practices, working hours, remuneration and management systems (SAI) | Accredited certification bodies | Certificate valid three years with surveillance audits in between | Environmental performance, product chemistry, and anything outside the certified site |
| GOTS | Organic fibre processing across the chain, combining environmental and human rights criteria. Version 7.0 released 2023, effective 1 March 2024 (GOTS) | GOTS-approved certification bodies | On-site inspection of every certified site and subcontractor each calendar year | Non-organic production lines in the same factory. “Organic” requires 95% certified organic fibre, “made with organic” requires 70% |
| OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 | Testing of every component against a list of over 1,000 harmful substances (OEKO-TEX) | OEKO-TEX institutes | Certificate valid one year | Working conditions entirely. It is a product chemistry certificate, not a labour one |
| OEKO-TEX STeP / MADE IN GREEN | STeP certifies production facilities on sustainable and socially responsible production conditions. MADE IN GREEN is the product label combining substance testing with facility conditions (OEKO-TEX) | OEKO-TEX institutes | Per scheme rules | The depth of labour assessment differs from a dedicated social standard |
| Fair Trade Certified (Fair Trade USA) | Factory Production Standard 2.0.0, over 100 criteria across social and environmental responsibility, worker empowerment and economic development, plus a Community Development Premium paid per product (Fair Trade USA) | Approved certification bodies | Three-year certificate with annual audits | Only the facility and stage named on the certificate. Fairtrade International operates a separate system with different scope |
| Higg Index (Cascale / Worldly) | Higg FEM for facility environmental performance and Higg FSLM for social and labour conditions, aligned to the SLCP framework (Cascale) | Self-assessment, optionally third-party verified | Annual module cycles | It is not a certification. Consumer-facing use of Higg MSI data was paused in 2022 after regulatory challenge |
What is the difference between WRAP and SEDEX?
WRAP issues a certificate to a facility. SEDEX hosts an audit report. WRAP assesses a production site against 12 principles and, if it passes, awards a time-limited certificate that a buyer can verify with the issuing body. SMETA produces a findings report with non-conformances, uploaded to the Sedex platform and shared with the customers the supplier chooses.
They also differ in scope. WRAP’s 12 principles include customs compliance and cargo security alongside labour and health and safety, reflecting its origins in the apparel export trade. A four-pillar SMETA reaches further into anti-bribery and environmental management than WRAP does, but stops short of issuing any verdict.
In practice most brands treat WRAP or SA8000 as the entry ticket and SMETA or BSCI as the ongoing monitoring layer. Asking for one instead of the other is a reasonable commercial decision. Treating them as interchangeable evidence is not.
Does a certification prove there is no forced labour?
No. A certification proves that on the days the auditor was present, at the site named on the certificate, the evidence sampled did not surface a non-conformance against that standard’s forced labour clause. That is meaningful. It is not proof of absence.
The most sobering illustration is Ali Enterprises in Karachi. The factory held an SA8000 certificate issued roughly three weeks before the September 2012 fire that killed more than 250 workers, and the audit behind it became the subject of a formal case against the certifier (ECCHR). Survivors described barred windows and a single usable exit.
Forced labour in apparel is also frequently upstream of the cut-and-sew factory, in yarn, ginning or raw fibre. A certificate covering a sewing unit says nothing about those tiers, and under the enforcement regimes now operating in the US and EU that is exactly where the exposure sits. Ask for fibre and fabric traceability documentation, not just the factory’s own certificate.
What does GOTS or OEKO-TEX tell you about working conditions?
GOTS tells you something. OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 tells you almost nothing. That is not a criticism of either, it is a scope fact that buyers routinely get wrong.
GOTS combines environmental and human rights criteria across the processing chain, and version 7.0 substantially revised the social section and added risk-based due diligence requirements. Every certified site and subcontractor is inspected on site each calendar year. But GOTS applies only to the organic-fibre products within its scope. A factory can hold a valid GOTS scope certificate and run entirely uncertified conventional lines in the same building.
OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 is a harmful-substances certificate, valid one year, testing every thread, button and accessory against a list of over 1,000 substances. It says nothing about wages, hours or freedom of association. For the OEKO-TEX system’s view of working conditions you need STeP facility certification or the MADE IN GREEN product label, which sit on top of substance testing.
Is the Higg Index a certification?
No. The Higg Index is a set of assessment tools, not a certification. Higg FEM covers facility environmental performance and Higg FSLM covers social and labour conditions, aligned with the Social & Labor Convergence Program framework. Modules are completed as self-assessments and can then be third-party verified, which is the version worth asking for.
Two governance changes are worth knowing. The Sustainable Apparel Coalition rebranded as Cascale in February 2024, and the software platform formerly called Higg Co is now Worldly. SLCP separated from Cascale in February 2024 and is now an independent Dutch foundation. Its Converged Assessment Framework deliberately produces verified data with no scoring or value judgement, leaving interpretation to the buyer (SLCP).
There is also a live limit on what anyone may say publicly. Consumer-facing use of Higg Materials Sustainability Index data was paused in 2022 after the Norwegian Consumer Authority found claims based on it misleading, and Norwegian and Dutch regulators later issued joint guidance on the tool (Business of Fashion). Higg data is legitimate for internal supplier comparison. It is not a marketing claim.
What do social audits systematically miss?
An audit is a sample, taken on one or a few days, against a checklist. Five things fall outside that sample with predictable regularity.
- Unauthorised subcontracting. The audited unit is compliant. The overflow unit that absorbs peak-season volume was never disclosed. Ask for a written subcontracting policy and the list of approved units.
- Recruitment fees. Debt bondage among migrant workers is usually created in the country of origin by a labour agent, not inside the factory gate. A site visit rarely reaches it.
- Genuine freedom of association. A worker committee exists on paper. Whether workers can organise without consequence is not something a scheduled interview in a manager’s building reliably establishes.
- Records that have been prepared. Double bookkeeping on hours and wages remains the most common form of audit fraud. Unannounced and semi-announced audits reduce it materially, which is why the announcement status of an audit is worth asking about.
- Everything upstream. Fabric mills, dyehouses, spinners and farms are separate legal entities with separate certificates, or with none at all.
None of this makes audits worthless. It makes them one input among several. A supplier who volunteers these limits is usually a better bet than one who presents a certificate as a closed question, which is part of the wider assessment covered in how to choose the right garment manufacturer for your brand.
What should you ask a garment factory before placing an order?
Ten questions that separate a documented supplier from a decorated one.
- Which legal entity and which physical address appear on each certificate, and do they match the unit that will make my order?
- May I have the certificate numbers so I can verify them with the issuing body directly?
- May I see the full audit report, including the corrective action plan and its closure evidence, rather than the summary page?
- Was the most recent audit announced, semi-announced or unannounced?
- What non-conformances were raised in the last two audits, and what specifically changed as a result?
- What is your written policy on subcontracting, and which units are approved?
- How are wages calculated and paid, and can you show the payroll and time records the auditor sampled?
- Who supplies your fabric and trims, and what compliance documentation do you hold at those tiers?
- How can workers raise a grievance, and how many grievances were raised and resolved last year?
- Which certificates expire in the next twelve months, and what is the renewal plan?
If a factory cannot answer question 3 or question 9, the certificates on the wall are decoration.
Where RichaCo Exports stands
We manufacture wovens, knits and flat-knits in Gurgaon for brands in the US and Europe, and we expect the questions above from every serious buyer.
Audit documentation can be shared under NDA at the RFQ stage. You can see our capabilities and unit profile on our garment manufacturers in India page, to start a compliance review.
Frequently asked questions
1. Is WRAP or SA8000 better for an apparel supplier?
They answer different questions. WRAP is apparel-specific and its 12 principles include customs and security alongside labour. SA8000 is cross-sector and built around a management system, with a three-year certificate and surveillance audits in between. Many exporters hold WRAP because customers ask for it and SA8000 because it forces systems rather than one-off fixes.
2. Can a factory be ethical without any certification?
Yes, and some small units are. Certification costs money and administrative capacity a 60-machine unit may not have. The alternative evidence is a full SMETA or SLCP-verified assessment, open payroll and time records, and a grievance mechanism you can test. No certificate is a reason to look harder, not an automatic disqualification.
3. How long is an ethical manufacturing certificate valid?
It varies by scheme. WRAP certificates run one year, and tiered Gold and Platinum certificates were discontinued from 1 March 2026. SA8000 certificates run three years with surveillance audits. GOTS requires an on-site inspection every calendar year. OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 runs one year. Always check the expiry date printed on the certificate rather than the date on the PDF you were sent.
4. Does fair trade apparel manufacturing mean workers are paid a living wage?
Not automatically. The Fair Trade USA Factory Production Standard requires compliance across social, environmental and economic criteria and adds a Community Development Premium paid per product sold, which a democratically elected worker committee allocates. That is a premium on top of wages, decided by workers, rather than a guaranteed living wage in the pay packet.
5. What is the difference between a second-party and a third-party audit?
A second-party audit is conducted by the buyer or its own staff against its own code of conduct. A third-party audit is conducted by an independent firm against a published methodology such as SMETA, or against a certification standard. Third-party audits are comparable across suppliers. Second-party audits are more specific to your own risks.
6. How do I check that a certificate is genuine?
Go to the issuing body, not the factory. WRAP, SAI, GOTS, OEKO-TEX and Fair Trade USA all provide ways to confirm a certificate number, its scope and its status. For SMETA, confirm the report on the Sedex platform. A scanned PDF from a supplier is the starting point for verification, not the verification itself.
7. Do audits cover the fabric mill as well as the sewing factory?
Usually not. Social compliance certificates name a facility. Mills, dyehouses and spinners hold their own certificates, or none at all. If your risk sits upstream, which for forced labour it often does, you need documentation at that tier rather than a stronger certificate at the sewing stage.