BSCI, Sedex and SMETA explained for small brands buying from China

amfori BSCI and SMETA are social audits: an auditor approved by the scheme visits a factory and checks labour rights, health and safety and ethics against a published code. Neither is a certificate: amfori grades the site from A to E, SMETA produces a corrective action plan with no pass or fail, and a buyer should check either result on the scheme’s own platform before trusting a PDF.

This guide is general information and does not replace legal advice. Schemes and rules were checked on 13 November 2026.

What each scheme is

amfori BSCI. amfori is a business association based in Brussels. BSCI stands for Business Social Compliance Initiative, launched in 2003. amfori reports more than 2,400 active BSCI members and more than 58,000 BSCI suppliers on its BSCI page. Suppliers are asked to sign the amfori BSCI Code of Conduct, and audits are stored on the amfori Sustainability Platform. amfori states plainly that BSCI “is not a certification”.

Sedex and SMETA. Sedex is a membership organisation that runs a platform for sharing supply-chain data. SMETA, the Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit, is its audit method, launched in 2004 when a group of UK retailers wanted one shared audit in place of their separate ones (Sedex). It measures a site against the ETI Base Code of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), the conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and local law. Sedex calls SMETA “a continuous improvement methodology” and says it is “not a pass-or-fail test”. The current version is SMETA 7, released in 2024.

Who commissions the audit and who sees it

For amfori, a member company engages its suppliers, and follow-up audits are requested through the platform. amfori says “only our members and their audited suppliers” can open full audit reports there.

For SMETA, only businesses that are Sedex members may have a SMETA audit, and the factory must hold an active Sedex account. The audit is done by one of Sedex’s approved Affiliate Audit Companies, uploaded to the Sedex platform and can then be shared with several buyers.

In both schemes the report lives on the platform. A PDF sent by email is a copy that you cannot check by itself.

Rating scales and how long results stay valid

An amfori BSCI audit has 81 questions across 13 performance areas, such as fair remuneration, decent working hours, occupational health and safety, no child labour and no forced labour. Each question is answered yes, partial, no or not applicable. According to amfori’s rating guide, 20 of the questions carry extra weight, each area is rated A to E, and the area ratings combine into an overall grade where A means very good and E unacceptable.

The amfori cycle runs two years. A site rated A or B needs its next full audit within two years. A site rated C, D or E needs a follow-up audit between two and twelve months after the full audit, and amfori recommends two to three months.

SMETA has no grade. Every audit covers the two founding pillars, labour standards and health and safety. A 4-pillar audit adds environment and business ethics, and Sedex says it is used in around 70 percent of SMETA audits. On validity, Sedex said in a consultation summary dated 5 June 2025 that it would no longer accept a SMETA audit older than 24 months as an assessment of current workplace conditions, and that it would update its manuals and platform to match. The same summary keeps the recommended rhythm: yearly audits for high-risk sites and every two years for medium-risk sites.

amfori BSCI and SMETA compared

How to check that a report is genuine

1. Ask which scheme, which audit date and, for SMETA, which pillars.
2. Ask to see the report inside the platform. If you are not a member, ask the factory to open it from its own account during a video call or your visit, and note the site name, address and audit date.
3. Match the site name and address with the factory’s business licence and with the place your goods are made. A report on a sister factory says nothing about yours.
4. For SMETA, check that the audit firm appears on Sedex’s list of Affiliate Audit Companies, which can be filtered by country. Sedex notes that firms on the list can be suspended for a time.
5. For amfori, check the grade and whether a follow-up audit was due and done.
6. If a retailer you supply is an amfori or Sedex member, ask it to look the site up on its own access.

What European retailers ask for

Requirements are set retailer by retailer, so ask your customer in writing which scheme it accepts, which scope and how recent the audit must be. What the schemes themselves say: amfori BSCI has more than 2,400 active members, SMETA was built by UK retailers, and Sedex reports that around 70 percent of SMETA audits use the full 4-pillar scope.

The EU Forced Labour Regulation from 14 December 2027

Regulation (EU) 2024/3015 applies from 14 December 2027 (Article 39). Article 3 forbids economic operators to place or make available on the EU market, or to export, products made with forced labour. Forced labour takes its definition from Article 2 of ILO Convention No 29 and includes forced child labour (Article 2). A product counts as made with forced labour if forced labour was used at any stage of its extraction, harvest, production or manufacture.

The Commission’s explainer adds that the ban covers imported and EU-made products alike, online sellers included. The Commission investigates cases outside the EU, and a banned product must be withdrawn and disposed of. The regulation “does not introduce any audit or reporting obligations”, and Article 1(3) says it creates no new due diligence duties beyond existing law. A social audit is therefore one way to show you looked, and the law does not require one.

When the factory has no social audit

Many smaller Chinese factories have never had one. A small brand can still act:

• Ask your largest customer whether it requires an audit before you pay for one.
• Ask the factory to sign your own code of conduct, or the amfori BSCI code if a customer is a member.
• For SMETA, the factory has to register with Sedex before an approved audit company can audit it, so agree in advance who pays.
• Visit, or send someone, and record what you see: hours posted, ages of workers, fire exits, dormitories.
• Keep the records with each order, ready for a customer’s questions.

Aslan Sourcing is not an audit body and does not carry out BSCI or SMETA audits.

Checklist for your social compliance file

• Written list of which customers require which scheme, scope and age of audit.
• For each factory: scheme, audit date, grade or pillars, audit firm.
• Platform check done, with the site name and address matched to the business licence.
• Follow-up audit dates tracked for amfori grades C to E.
• SMETA audits older than 24 months flagged for renewal.
• Signed code of conduct for factories without an audit.
• Visit notes and photos filed with each order.
• A plan for the Forced Labour Regulation, which applies from 14 December 2027.