[Full response attached]

Sedex is deeply concerned about recent reports investigating the recruitment and employment of Uighur and other Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang Region. We are firmly against all forms of modern slavery, exploitation and forced labour, and support all activity to combat these issues...

...Audits and Sedex’s audit methodology SMETA are designed to collect data at a country, sector, and site level, rather than track worker ethnicity. Our tools and SMETA methodology, as developed by our membership, provide an assessment of working conditions at site level, and can help businesses trace whether the business is linked to sites based in a specific city or town...

...During an audit all workers at a site are taken into consideration within the scope of a SMETA audit. The methodology ensures migrant and other vulnerable worker groups can participate in the audit, including the interviews, without outside interference by enabling independent auditors to arrange the sampling needed for document reviews and interviews (rather than site management). Where possible, auditors will try and arrange group interviews by language groups or similar recruitment journeys to help with building rapport and making workers feel more comfortable discussing their shared experiences...