SGS has been appointed as a ‘Recognized Assessor’ by the Business Environmental Performance Initiative (BEPI) to conduct third party environmental performance assessments in production units supplying the retail and food industries.
BEPI is a new initiative, launched by the Foreign Trade Association (FTA), to help producers to identify and manage key environmental risk factors in their organizations. Initially focused on China, Vietnam and Bangladesh, BEPI will rollout worldwide. SGS has extensive experience in supporting businesses and organizations across the world to demonstrate their environmental and sustainability credentials through assessment, audit and certification.
The BEPI cycle comprises three stages: self-assessment, improvement phase and independent third party assessment. Each stage guides producers towards practical environmental improvement. As a Recognized Assessor, SGS will conduct the third and final assessment stage on behalf producers to whom it is contracted.
The BEPI scheme compliments the company’s existing portfolio of sustainability and environmental certification services.
“At SGS, we help clients to ensure that in today’s global and fast-moving competitive markets they and their partners can meet the complex environmental challenges in their supply chains,” said Ahmad Ansari, SGS’s BEPI Program Manager. “Our appointment as a BEPI Recognized Assessor, means we will be able help our clients meet the expectations of the supply chain and consumers.”