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SA8000 is the most recognized international standard for social responsibility. This standard is based on United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and different ILO Conventions.
SA8000 describes 8 criteria, to which the companies seeking certification must comply, and a requirement for an adequate management system to secure compliance and the necessary documentation. Certified companies are obliged to abandon child work, to secure occupational health and safety, to recognize the workers´ right to organize in unions and bargain collectively and to refrain from any kind of discrimination among their employees.

The main advantage of SA8000 compared to other CSR and social responsibility instruments is, that your company can get certified after this standard, and that it is recognised all over the world.
If your company or suppliers get certified you are able to document, that your products have been manufactured in a social responsible way. In other systems as e.g. Global Compact, Max Havelaar etc. it is the companies themselves, which describes in what way they work with social responsibility, but there are not an external certification and comprehensive control.

The SA8000 standard are managed by the independent international organisation Social Accountability International, which is located in New York. This standard was launched in 1997 and has appeared in a slightly revised new edition in May 2008. Today about 2.000 companies are certified against the standard in 64 countries worldwide. Only three companies in Denmark have been certified until now, but many are preparing for a certification within the next years.