For years, industry certifications like GOTS, GRS, RWS, FSC and Better Cotton have been considered key indicators of low sustainability risk and supply chains compliance. These certifications help establish trust with brands, proving that a supplier adheres to sustainability, and ethical labor- and environmental standards across tiers. Certifications play a role in risk assessment, but they are not the only – nor always the best – way to demonstrate low risk and responsible business practices to your client. You clients expect data.
This article will tell you how you can demonstrate low sustainability and business risk with structured supply chain traceability and compliance data, leading to happier clients and better business.
Brands are not just asking for certifications – they are asking for data, receipts and other company records. This is largely driven by increasingly stringent due diligence and sustainability regulations such as:
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EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) |
Requires companies to ensure due diligence across their entire supply chain. |
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Forced Labor Prevention Laws |
The EU, U.S., Canada, Mexico are just some of the authorities that ban imports linked to forced labor, requiring operators and importers to show proof of full supply chain and supplier compliance. See solutions.
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German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG) |
Holds companies accountable for labor rights and environmental risks throughout their supply chain. |
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CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) |
Requires brands to be transparent and disclose supply chain sustainability metrics, pushing them to demand more data from suppliers. How TrusTrace helps with CSRD. |
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Digital Product Passports |
The highly anticipated digital product passports for various consumer good categories will require all supply chain actors to collaborate on product lifecycle data. More on DPP. |
For you and your upstream suppliers, this means that certifications alone are not enough to guarantee ongoing good conduct. Instead, what truly builds trust and reduces risk in your clients’ eyes is data and proof of responsible operations – starting with supply chain mapping.
By having a structured way to connect the dots between facilities, tiers, and transactions, suppliers can proactively provide evidence that satisfies brand customers and regulators alike. Brands want real-time data that will demonstrate compliance to global regulations especially for their key markets and clear visibility into the supply chain. An annual audit or certificate might not capture ongoing risks.
Your brand clients request data from you and all their suppliers to meet regulatory requirements, but also to actively monitor and manage risk across a wide range of critical environmental and human rights areas. They have company commitments to ensure better welfare for people and planet, and this heavily relies on how their products are made.
Sustainability risks found in supply chains:
By collecting this data, brands gain the insight needed to identify potential risks, implement corrective actions, and work collaboratively with suppliers to build a more responsible and resilient supply chain.
So how can you do it? Let us show you the three key steps on how supply chain mapping and structured data collection helps you lower risk, leading to happier clients and better business.
Just as you support your clients with design and sourcing, you also play a key role in ensuring compliant, low-risk operations. When there’s no certification or audit, clients rely on transparency and your reporting to assess risk. Start with supply chain mapping and put processes in place to consistently show compliance. This helps you identify all facilities, connect data efficiently, and provide real-time visibility.
By going beyond certifications and offering ongoing proof of responsible practices, you strengthen trust, support regulatory needs, and position yourself as a valued, long-term partner in building a more sustainable supply chain.
As a supplier, you may often feel like you’re constantly responding to brand requests for compliance data without fully understanding the bigger picture. Why are brands asking for this information? What happens to the data you provide?
Brands are acting in response to global regulations like CSDDD, German Supply Chain Act (LkSG), and various forced labor prevention laws that are driving these demands. Your brand clients are under legal obligation to prove not just ethical sourcing but also full regulatory compliance, and they rely on their suppliers to help provide the necessary evidence of compliant operations. This means that proving compliance goes beyond certifications – it requires real-time, data-backed proof that can be accessed and shared efficiently. Instead of feeling overwhelmed by ad-hoc requests, you can take control by implementing a structured, efficient system that allows you to provide instant access to compliance data when needed.
Brands look for Transaction Certificates (TCs) to verify material sourcing, third-party audits and assessments for ethical and environmental validation, and worker voice mechanisms to demonstrate fair treatment. Additionally, production and material data should provide a digital trail of processing activities, while facility compliance records confirm workplace safety and sustainability efforts. Understanding this context sheds light on the role of these data requests from your clients and can help you shift your perspective on compliance from being a burden into a way to strengthen your position as a trusted, audit-ready partner.
Keeping up with compliance requests manually can be overwhelming, but adopting a scalable, agile platform like TrusTrace transforms how you manage compliance data. With TrusTrace, you can quickly map your supply chain using public databases and enhance it with your own supplier-specific information, creating a clear and connected view of your sourcing network. The platform allows you to automate compliance tracking, seamlessly linking certifications, audits, and transaction records to your digital supplier profile.
Image: An orange colored infant garment and a data panel showing the different types of data brands and suppliers report on the TrusTrace platform to show CPSIA compliance.
In other words, you will be able to quickly share the data your clients need. Instead of firefighting to collect documents at the last minute, you can generate real-time compliance reports on demand, eliminating inefficiencies and delays. With continuous monitoring of your data, you proactively identify and mitigate compliance risks, rather than reacting after an issue arises. By automating supply chain compliance reporting, you reduce operational burden but also handle hundreds of client requests efficiently. This ultimately builds stronger client trust, and positions your business as a reliable, audit-ready manufacturing partner.
To keep a low-risk rating today, it’s not enough for you or your clients to rely only on yearly certifications. You need to keep monitoring your facilities’ compliance all the time. This means regularly updating supply chain information with mapping, using tools that show where materials come from and how people are treated, and using smart systems that can spot problems early. It also means being proactive and organized with your data so you can share proof of good practices with clients before they even ask.
Certifications are still helpful, but they can’t cover everything. As laws get stricter and your clients expect more, using digital tools to manage compliance will help you reduce risk, show your commitment to responsible practices, and build stronger, more trusted relationships with your clients.
Interested in seeing how TrusTrace can help ease the evidence collection and supply chain mapping for you?
Check out our new offering and get a product demo of TrusTrace for Suppliers.