The Ethical Charter Implementation Program (ECIP)

The Ethical Charter Implementation Program (ECIP) is a collaboration among retailers/buyers, grower-shippers and implementing organizations to recognize and strengthen engagement around labor practices in the fresh produce industry, highlight existing best-practice efforts, and identify opportunities for continuous improvement. Through an assessment tool and capacity building resources, ECIP helps measure and strengthen alignment with the principles of the Ethical Charter on Responsible Labor Practices.

Launched with initial funding from the Walmart Foundation and administered by the Equitable Food Initiative, ECIP is overseen by an Advisory Group composed of leading buyers, suppliers and key stakeholders:

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Benchmarked Certification: Sustainably Grown

The Ethical Charter Implementation Program (ECIP) recognizes and celebrates growers who hold social responsibility certifications. As part of this effort, The Sustainability Consortium has benchmarked 16 certification programs, confirming their alignment with the Ethical Charter on Responsible Labor Practices. Growers who hold one of these certifications receive free access to ECIP LAB and automatically achieve the highest engagement score on

ECIP LAB Video

New ECIP LAB Release: Supplier View of Grower Subscription Status

With this new feature release, suppliers now have a more transparent view into their growers’ engagement with ECIP LAB. Suppliers can view their growers’ last activity date in Grower LAB, whether their subscription has lapsed or they have never subscribed. Watch the demo below for a full walkthrough of this new release.

ECIP LAB Super User

ECIP Super User: Fernanda Gonzales Sanchez

As the Food Safety and Compliance Coordinator at Equifruit, Fernanda Gonzalez plays a key role in ensuring that Equifruit’s banana growers meet food safety, Fairtrade and regulatory standards. Fernanda possesses a strong passion for ethical sourcing and a commitment to making a difference in the produce supply chain. In this spotlight, she shares her experience with ECIP, challenges she overcame

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Walmart helped develop the Ethical Charter on Responsible Labor Practices. We have endorsed it ourselves and encouraged our suppliers to do the same. We aim to source 100% of Walmart U.S. fresh produce and floral products from suppliers who have endorsed this Industry framework and encourage them and their growers to engage in the Ethical Charter Implementation Program to further strengthen their labor practices and demonstrate the good work they are already doing.

ECIP reflects the power of industry collaboration to advance meaningful changes for people and our planet. We’re pleased to help scale this capacity-building work that prioritizes meeting growers where they are in their journey and offering practical resources and guidance to help enhance labor practices.

The Ethical Charter Implementation Program will give our supply chain the ability to showcase our alignment with the Ethical Charter principles and meet our customers’ expectations without undertaking the burden of audit or certification.

Equitable Food Initiative is a capacity-building and certification nonprofit that works to improve the lives of farmworkers and drive business performance by integrating worker voice and engagement throughout the supply chain. As a multistakeholder organization, EFI brings together growers, farmworkers, retailers and consumers to create assessment, training and organizational development programs that support continuous improvement and address the industry’s most pressing problems. For more information about Equitable Food Initiative, visit equitablefood.org.