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New WRAP® Mandate Expands Factory Certification Beyond Apparel
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Maxamillion Blick

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By Maxamillion Blick
Published on 08/31/2007
 
The Board of Directors for Worldwide Responsible Apparel Production (WRAP) announced a change in the name of the organization to Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production. The name change reflects the organization’s increasing involvement with diverse industries as they seek to certify ethical working conditions in labor-intensive manufacturing facilities around the world.
New WRAP® Mandate Expands Factory Certification Beyond Apparel
The Board of Directors for Worldwide Responsible Apparel Production (WRAP) today announced a change in the name of the organization to Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production. The name change reflects the organization’s increasing involvement with diverse industries as they seek to certify ethical working conditions in labor-intensive manufacturing facilities around the world.

“Having worked extensively with the labor-intensive manufacturing sector in some 70 countries around the world, WRAP is in an unparalleled position to expand beyond its historical roots in apparel,” said Steve Jesseph, WRAP’s President and CEO. “We have deep experience in addressing the differences and commonalities in production practices, and know that we can make a positive difference by monitoring and certifying factories to ensure adherence to clear requirements.”

WRAP’s expanded mission comes in response to the challenges facing brands and retailers that have been licensing their name for non-apparel products. They have described numerous difficulties in maintaining high standards for legal, humane and ethical production processes across various new sectors.

Three years ago, WRAP developed the Universal Code of Ethical ConductTM (UCEC), a variation of the WRAP Apparel Code that can be adapted to all manufacturing sectors. “Most manufacturing today involves conversion of raw materials, but the functional areas of purchasing, shipping and receiving, human resources, production planning and quality control are virtually the same,” said Jesseph. “We’ve found that the management systems and code areas for the apparel sector are directly applicable to virtually any other product – whether it is furniture, housewares, glass, plastic, electrical appliances, packaging or automotive parts.”

The expanded program will include industry-specific training, monitoring and certification programs designed around the UCEC. With this strategic expansion, the WRAP acronym, which has come to stand for social compliance in apparel, will now stand for social compliance in any labor intensive production process.

While WRAP will begin to certify factories in other industries under the UCEC insignia, it will continue the certification process for apparel, footwear and textile factories under the WRAP Apparel logo.

For further information, please see the WRAP website at www.wrapapparel.org