SMETA (Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit) is an audit methodology covering labour standards, health and safety, environment and business ethics, widely used by EU retailers to assess social compliance across food and agricultural supply chains.
In trade practice
Audits are conducted by approved third-party audit companies and results are uploaded to the Sedex platform, where buying members can access them without commissioning a separate audit. SMETA covers two or four pillars depending on buyer requirements; the four-pillar version adds environment and business ethics to the core labour and health-and-safety assessment. Suppliers sometimes underestimate the documentation required for working-hours records and subcontractor management, which are common audit findings.
In a specification
A supplier approval requirement referencing SMETA should state the number of pillars required, the maximum acceptable audit age and whether a corrective action plan must be closed before approval is granted.