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Definition

Sedex supplier platform Definition

The Sedex supplier platform stores site-level labour, health and safety, environmental and business-ethics information so a supplier can complete assessments and share selected data and audit records with linked customers.

What is the Sedex supplier platform?

The Sedex supplier platform is an online account for keeping company and site details, workforce information, supplier self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ) answers and audit records, then sharing them through customer links. Sedex operates the platform and owns the SMETA audit method; it is not the company that conducts your audit.

A Sedex membership or SMETA audit is not a certification, and Sedex issues no pass or fail. A customer may still set its own acceptance rules or request an audit, so work from the invitation's named site, required information and deadline.

Why does the Sedex supplier platform matter to you?

A customer may ask you to join Sedex, complete a site SAQ, link your account and share an audit. Sedex's Terms and Conditions clause 5.1 gives supplier users three months after joining to complete an SAQ for each site of employment; clause 5.2 requires a review at least every six months and immediate updates when material information changes. Your customer's deadline can be earlier.

Transportation and storage businesses fall within Sedex's service-provider examples. Its service-provider SAQ tailors questions to supplier characteristics and covers labour standards, health and safety, business ethics and environmental impact. If you answer for the wrong warehouse or leave the customer link incomplete, the buyer will not receive the site information it requested.

How does the Sedex supplier platform work?

Start with the customer's invitation. Register the legal company and each requested operating site, complete the company, site and workforce profile, answer the relevant SAQ, then link the named customer so you can share the requested records. Keep a question-to-document index showing the file, site, owner, reporting period and expiry date behind each answer.

If the customer requests a SMETA audit, confirm the site and audit scope before booking. Sedex's Terms and Conditions clause 6.3 says only an authorised Affiliate Audit Company, meaning an independent audit company approved by Sedex, may conduct a SMETA audit or upload its findings. Clause 5.5 says that auditor uploads the report within 14 days after finishing the audit. You can then add comments or explanations in your account.

What mistakes should you avoid?

  • Calling Sedex membership or a SMETA audit a certificate, score, pass or customer approval.
  • Combining several warehouses into one site answer when the invitation identifies one location.
  • Booking a provider that is not on Sedex's authorised Affiliate Audit Company list for a SMETA audit.
  • Leaving workforce data, policies, permits or audit actions unchanged after the six-month review point or a material change.

Is Sedex the same as SMETA?

No. Sedex is the company and data-sharing platform. SMETA is Sedex's site-level audit methodology. The platform can hold SMETA and other third-party audit records, but neither a platform account nor a SMETA audit creates a certification.

Do you need a SMETA audit to join Sedex?

No. Sedex's supplier FAQ says an audit is not required to join. Arrange one only if your customer requests it or you choose it for your own assessment, and confirm the customer's required audit type and site first.

What should you prepare for a Sedex customer request?

Keep the invitation, legal entity and site details, workforce profile, current SAQ answers and a question-to-document index. Add the latest audit report, corrective actions and closure evidence only when they apply. Record which customer is linked and what that customer asked to see.

Worked example

Hypothetical example: Suppose an Indonesian freight forwarder receives a Sedex request for its 74-worker Surabaya warehouse, due 30 September 2026. It registers that warehouse separately, completes the service-provider profile and maps its SAQ answers to records for that site.

The team builds a 12-row evidence index: three labour records, three health-and-safety records, three environmental records and three business-ethics records. Ten are current. A fire-drill record names the Jakarta office, and a waste contractor's licence expires before the submission date. The internal completeness check is 10 / 12 = 83.3%. This is not a Sedex score or pass rate. The team replaces the two unusable records before sharing the site response.

Where you'll meet it

Sedex supplier SAQ completion and information-refresh dutiesSedex Terms and Conditions, clauses 5.1-5.2Official sourceSedex supplier SMETA audit request, upload and authorised-auditor rulesSedex Terms and Conditions, clauses 5.5 and 6.1-6.3Official sourceSedex Service Provider SAQ characteristic-based questions and four risk areasService Provider SAQ, Key features of the enhanced SAQOfficial sourceSedex membership and SMETA certification and pass-or-fail limitsWhat We Do at Sedex FAQ, Does Sedex certify companies?Official source

Related terms

Supplier self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ)

A supplier self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ) is a supplier-completed form that tests named environmental, labour, ethics and governance practices against supporting documents for a specific company or site.

SMETA audit

A SMETA audit is a site-level assessment of labour, health and safety, environment and business ethics against local law and the ETI Base Code, with findings recorded in an audit report and corrective action plan.

Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence

Corporate sustainability due diligence is an ongoing, risk-based process for finding and addressing harm to people or the environment connected to a company's operations and business relationships.

Supplier code of conduct

A supplier code of conduct sets the labour, health and safety, environmental, ethics, record-keeping, and subcontractor rules a buyer expects its suppliers to follow and be able to prove.

Sources

  • Sedex

    Platform and SMETA roles, accepted audit records, customer sharing, and the no-certification and no-pass-or-fail limits

    2026-08-19

  • Sedex

    Transportation and storage as service providers, characteristic-based SAQ questions, and the four risk areas

    2026-08-19

  • Sedex Information Exchange Limited

    Supplier clauses 5.1-5.5 and audit clauses 6.1-6.3 on site SAQs, updates, audit uploads and authorised audit companies

    2026-08-19

Last verified 2026-08-19

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Sedex supplier platform Definition | Keslio