Get Prepared For The Modern Slavery Act ... Global GreenTag International Is Ready With A Process For Supply Chain Compliance

Global GreenTag International was one of the first companies in Australia last year to join a coalition of organisations to support the introduction into Australia for the first ever Modern Slavery Act, and at an industry event in Brisbane today, which focused on how Modern Slavery will impact Australian infrastructure projects, the product certification company announced that it had compliance systems in place to help manufacturers meet the inevitable laws that are coming into effect and which will eventually impact procurement of products all along the supply chain.

Global GreenTag, revealed CEO and Program Director David Baggs, has had a Modern Slavery Act project team working since last year and a number of initiatives are now in place, which will have global reach and will be announced in the coming days, as the inevitable time arrives for larger companies to start investigating and reporting on modern slavery in their operations and supply chains.

Speaking at the Brisbane event, organised by the Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia with the Supply Chain Sustainability School, David Baggs was joined by Global GreenTag's Managing Director Mary-Lou Kelly and Business Development Manager Brett Hazlett.  He said:

"We are geared to help throw greater transparency onto the human impacts around the production of materials and products for the global built environment industries. There is a massive responsibility to help clean up the supply chain where issues of forced labour conditions are still affecting the quality of life of millions of people.  We are keen to get down to business of putting a Modern Slavery Act into action – making it visible and starting with the Infrastructure sector, which in Australia alone is a $100 billion industry.  Having government behind this cause is certainly going to help and we congratulate both the NSW and Victorian Governments who are addressing the Act already.

David Baggs adds that eighty percent of Global GreenTag certified products and their companies, have already been identified as being compliant within the scope of a Modern Slavery Act.

"As we take into account all areas of Corporate and Social Responsibility - Health, Environment and People - we are already shining a stronger light into the depths of that third category, which is people."

Mary-Lou Kelly, Global GreenTag's Managing Director, said:

"Ethics and transparency are core to Global GreenTag services.  Today is an important day because it marks the start of a more formal and unified initiative to combat Modern Slavery and it was wonderful to see industry representation from larger companies like Michael Steele from Lend Lease and organisers of the event – Robin Mellon from Supply Chain Sustainability School and Ainsley Simpson from Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia - speak their intent to move this Act forward."

Brett Hazlett, Global GreenTag's Business Development Manager added:

"GreenTag is committed to being on the front foot for manufacturers and it will be our job to help them to articulate as soon as possible where their products are positioned in relation to the new Act – and how to validate those claims."

According to the Global Slavery Index, modern slavery is a significant global human rights issue with an estimated 40 million people living in some form of modern slavery around the world, including human trafficking, servitude, child labour, sex trafficking, forced labour and Australia is not immune with an estimated 4,300 people living under modern slavery conditions.

For more information about Global GreenTag, or to organise an interview with David Baggs or Mary-Lou Kelly, please contact Debra Robertson, mailto:[] or by phone:  1300 263 586 or mobile: 0412 589 588

More about Global GreenTag International
Global GreenTag International simplifies the selection of sustainable products for the green building, interiors and infrastructure sectors, using Global GreenTag ^CertTM   one of the most scientifically advanced certification systems and standards in the world, currently certifyingover 1600 products for over 130 companies in over 22 countries.

The Global GreenTag certification process assesses and ranks products through leading Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) based product ecolabelling, rating, Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) and Product Health Declaration (PhD) programs.

In fact, Global GreenTag ^CertTM was the first certification standard in the world to implement unique 'Beyond LCA' life cycle product assessment (LCA), a first ever 'Net Positive' benefit analysis, and recently also HealthRATE, CarbonRATE and Best Environmental Practice PVC assessments to deepen the certification and rating of green building, interiors, personal and consumables products.

Subsequently, Global GreenTag certification has become one of the most trusted marks behind some of world's most iconic brands who are all working to reverse their manufacturing impacts on the environment and human health. Brands including Interface, Polyflor, Laminex,  Knauf, Armstrong, Tarkett, Vertilux, Verosol, BASF, DuPont, CSR, Herman Miller, Schiavello, and many more.

Global GreenTag International continuously extends boundaries of product certification as an externally certified ISO 9001 organisation, ISO 17065 compliant conformance assessment body and ISO 14024 compliant ecolabelling program. Its Global GreenTag ^CertTM  certification standard is also recognised by leading green building programs - Green Star® NZ, Australia and Africa, WELL^TM  Building Standard, Vietnam Green building Council's LOTUS® tool, 'IS' (Infrastructure, Sustainability, Australia and NZ), Malaysia's  MyHIJAU labelling program, EnviroDevelopment™ and compliant with relevant USBGC LEED v4 Materials credits.

Global GreenTag has also attracted many industry awards that recognise its contribution to green product certification. These include the UK BUILD Magazine Innovators in Production – Australia Award in 2017.  In 2015 and 2016, Australia's 'Architecture and Design' and 'Infolink' readers voted Global GreenTag as one of Australia's Top 100 Most Trusted Brandsand in 2016, it became the only ecolabel in Australia to feature in the top 100 most trusted brands.  A total of 22 companies and brands – certified or under certification with Global GreenTag International– also won positions in the 2016 readers' readers' poll, including first place overall for GreenTag manufacturer -Weathertex.

Global GreenTag^CertTM operates under the following international standards

Externally certified to ISO 9001 for Quality Management
Externally verified as compliant to:

ISO 14024 for Type 1 (Third Party) Ecolabels and

·         ISO 17065 for Conformance Assessment Bodies

Certification is compliant to ISO 14040 & ISO 14044 for LCA
ISO 14067 for Greenhouse Gas calculation
ISO 14025 for Environmental Product Declarations and
ISO 21930 and EN 15804 for specific need EPDs
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and US Trade Marks & Patents Office Approved Certification Mark.