A variety of other topics, such as typically handled by labor organizations. The environmental problems evaluated in monitoring include the use of water and energy, soil and ecosystem conservation, chemical use and waste management.
The ETP also aims to provide support for tea producers, to help them with work questions, environmental problems, security and other topics. A growing component of the problems addressed by the ETP is relevant for sustainability.
Criticism of the Ethics Association of Tea:
The Association of Ethical Tea has intentions and objectives that almost everyone would be in accordance with good and valuable goals. The criticisms of the ETP do not argue that it directly causes any damage, but focuses on the argument that it is not effective in achieving its alleged objectives, and which makes the member companies concerned about ethics, without funding ethical problems . In the tea industry.
A 2006 report, sustainillatea: the Dutch Tea Market and Corporate Social Responsibility [1], examined the ETP in depth and found that it had numerous deficiencies.
Visits to the ETP auditor are planned and announced, allowing owners of tea plantation to hide or eliminate or temporarily change anything that would negatively impact their audit.
Although the ETP carries out efforts to help its auditors related to tea workers, because auditors arrive with planting management, workers may identify them or associate them with administration, and do not trust them with any information. that can reflect rarely. administration.
The entire model or focus of the ETP is based on what the report hurts a “compliance mentality”, in which an operation follows a set of rules to achieve certification. The report stated that the ETP does not make a solid case of business to consider social and environmental problems, and the ETP does not do a good job to help the administration to see the Audits of ETP as a genuine investment instead of a series of hoops to jump through.
The results of the ETP audits are not shared with stakeholders, including suppliers, unions and related NGOs.
CKList does a good job to include labor standards, but does not include any environmental standards. This report is a bit dated now, and it is not clear which of these problems has been addressed by the ETP. In summary: The ethical association of tea is a non-profit organization, formed by large and small businesses, to work with tea producers to address social and environmental problems in tea production. The ETP has ambitious and valuable targets, but has attracted the criticisms that it does not do enough to successfully address the problems it establishes to address. Many companies, including ETP members and non-members, have gone beyond the efforts of this Organization, carrying out their own initiatives to promote sustainability and address social and ethical problems in tea production.