1. Factory Qualification Approval
Before we begin production of products with any factory, we put them through a rigorous due diligence process, which includes:
- Reviewing their compliance practices - including product quality, labor, health and safety, and environmental stewardship - to ensure they meet our requirements.
- Communicating our expectations for ethical sourcing performance, including the RSCC requirements, beyond compliance with local laws, and addressing safe and just working conditions in the country or countries where the vendor does business.
- Requiring factories to comply with the RSCC and disclose all of their subcontractors.
2. Audits
Audits provide an opportunity to evaluate performance against ethical sourcing standards. Both our owned and operated factories and supplier factories are required to be audited on a regular basis.
As an active participant in the global toy industry’s initiative to continuously improve factory working conditions, the ICTI Ethical Toy Program (IETP), we ensure our factories are registered with IETP and are audited and certified annually for compliance to the IETP Code of Conduct. Audits are conducted by an independent, professional audit company that has been approved and trained by the IETP. The IETP is based on a code of ethical operating practices comparable to our RSCC. Designed to promote safe and just working conditions in toy factories, the IETP provides the industry with a unified approach to responsible manufacturing. Apart from IETP, we also recognize audits conducted against other well-established Industry Audit Programs on a case-by-case basis.
We reserve the right to conduct unannounced audits of our factories to verify compliance with our requirements.
