SIZA strives to ensure continuous improvement within agri-businesses, allowing for economic growth, social responsibility, and environmental stewardship throughout the supply chain. This goal is achieved by ensuring reliability, ethicality, and consistency amongst the SIZA approved third-party audit firms.
This continued drive ensures that credible data is provided to global buyers and stakeholders, confirming that requirements are met and showcasing compliance at various levels within the supply chain. It is essential to maintain this drive toward continuous improvement among audit firms, allowing for a calibrated approach and methodology that benefits everyone involved, including the business, auditor, and the buyer.
SIZA remains focused on ensuring that the audit firms recognised by the programme are of a high standard by applying rigorous audit oversight principles in monitoring output under the seven firms. The SIZA audit oversight and monitoring policy has been updated to reflect and include various additional measurements which will apply to all audit firms and auditors.
The following aspects are included within the SIZA governance toward overseeing that third-party audit firms maintain competency:
- Approved auditors for each buyer programme
- Additional quality reporting indicators
- Management of audit firm’s participation
- KPI governance feedback
- Audit quality programme
- Continuous training & governance
- Critical alert reporting
- Prompt publication of audit reports and post-audit review
- Responsiveness by audit firm
- Continuous support and improvement
SIZA has engaged with all the audit firms on the particular indicators and completed evaluations on the various indicators during 2021. This process will be repeated quarterly, and areas for improvement will be identified and focused on for continuous development and growth. Click here to view the full SIZA Audit Process and Methodology.
