WRAP History

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The Company Description of Its Time

WRAP is an independent, objective, nonprofit team of global social compliance experts dedicated to promoting safe, lawful, humane and ethical manufacturing around the world through certification and education. The organization achieves this in two ways: its Certification Program certifies individual factories for compliance with WRAP's principles and procedures concerning fair pay, workers' dignity, safe and secure conditions and environmental impact; and its training programs educate workers, factory managers, government inspectors and others about issues related to global supply chains and their workers.

How WRAP Came to Be: 1997 to 2000

The recorded build-up runs like this. In 1997, President Clinton's Apparel Industry Partnership launched to provide training and tools to improve working conditions. In 1998 the American Apparel Manufacturers Association (AAMA) formed a committee to address social compliance challenges, the Responsible Apparel Production Principles (RAPP) were drafted, and the first RAPP audit was conducted at Jockey's Costa Rica facility. In 1999 the AAMA committee recommended the formation of an independent nonprofit, renamed Worldwide Responsible Apparel Production (WRAP). In 2000 WRAP was incorporated as an independent nonprofit, and that August the AAMA merged with the Footwear Industries of America and The Fashion Association to form the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) - the largest and most representative sewn products trade association in the United States, whose own profile is in this directory's A section.

The first result of the process was the development of the Worldwide Responsible Apparel Production Principles - basic standards addressing labor practices, factory conditions, and environmental and customs compliance. The WRAP Principles received the public endorsement of the AAMA Board of Directors in 1998, and were later endorsed by groups representing apparel manufacturers from 18 countries around the world, with endorsements recorded from manufacturers in Hong Kong, Sri Lanka and Guatemala and, in November 2001, from the textile and apparel manufacturers of Turkey.

The Certification Program and the 12 Principles

The WRAP Certification Program is an independent, globally supported factory certification program requiring manufacturers to comply with the 12 universally accepted WRAP Production Principles, assuring safe and healthy workplace conditions and respect for workers' rights. The objective of the Apparel Certification Program is to independently monitor and certify compliance with those standards, ensuring that a given factory produces sewn goods under lawful, humane and ethical conditions - and it is not enough to subscribe to the principles; WRAP monitors the factory for compliance with the detailed practices and procedures that adherence implies.

The 12 Principles, in their current published form, cover: compliance with laws and workplace regulations; prohibition of forced labor; prohibition of child labor; prohibition of harassment and abuse; compensation and benefits; hours of work; prohibition of discrimination; health and safety; freedom of association and collective bargaining; environment; customs compliance; and security. The first nine cover the labor core drawn from the spirit and language of International Labour Organization conventions; the environment principle asks a facility to demonstrate environmentally responsible practices; and the final two, on customs compliance and security, were benchmarked in 2019 against the U.S. Customs and Border Protection CTPAT program.

Scale and mechanics from the record: as of November 2003, WRAP had over 700 international manufacturers with over 1,300 participating factories in the program and had certified 570 factories; certifications were valid for 12 months and all participating plants were subject to unannounced compliance inspections. By 2008 it had certified some 1,700 factories in 60 countries. Many manufacturers commented that WRAP had not only resulted in more reliable social compliance, but had contributed to greater productivity, lower turnover, improved communications between management and employees, safer working conditions and improved morale. In 2007 the organization updated its name to Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production - the name it keeps today - and in February 2018 it became the official corporate social responsibility partner of the AAFA.

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