The white paper contains the core principles that manufacturers as part of the Sustainable Terms of Trade Initiative (STTI) do not want to see breached by the companies that buy from them. And it suggests how manufacturers will collaborate to apply commercial compliance in the apparel sourcing business.

The white paper establishes commercial compliance as a leading principle for the manufacturer’s perspective on the improvement of purchasing practices.

STTI defines it as ‘purchasing practices that do not cause obvious and avoidable harm to manufacturers’. The white paper lists ‘key recommendations’, defining what purchasing practices manufacturers consider to be breaches of their definition of commercial compliance.
A phase 2 to the initiative is foreseen to start within weeks. In phase 2, two major and interconnected approaches will emerge. The initiative will seek structural dialogue with buying brands and retailers and some of the MSIs in which they participate on the inclusion of the concept commercial compliance in purchasing practices codes. Secondly, the initiative will aid the creation of a system of improved transparency regarding commercial compliance.