About the RBA (Responsible Business Alliance)

Dec 14, 2019

About the RBA

The Responsible Business Alliance is the world’s largest industry coalition dedicated to corporate social responsibility in global supply chains.



Founded in 2004 by a group of leading electronics companies, the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA), formerly the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC), is a nonprofit comprised of electronics, retail, auto and toy companies committed to supporting the rights and well-being of workers and communities worldwide affected by the global supply chain. RBA members commit and are held accountable to a common Code of Conduct and utilize a range of RBA training and assessment tools to support continual improvement in the social, environmental and ethical responsibility of their supply chains.

In addition to setting and holding members accountable to core standards and providing training and assessment tools, the RBA regularly engages in dialogue and collaborations with workers, governments, civil society, investors and academia to gather the necessary range of perspectives and expertise to support and drive its members toward achieving the RBA mission and values of a responsible global electronics supply chain. In October 2017 the EICC became the RBA to reflect its expanded reach and influence.

Today the RBA and its Responsible Minerals, Labor and Factory Initiatives have more than 380 members with combined annual revenues of greater than $7.7 trillion, directly employing over 21.5 million people, with products manufactured in more than 120 countries. In addition to RBA members, thousands of companies that are Tier 1 suppliers to those members are required to implement the RBA Code of Conduct More than 3.5 million people from over 120 countries contribute to the manufacture of RBA members' products. 

Vision & Mission

Vision: A global electronics industry that creates sustainable value for workers, the environment and business.

Mission: Members, suppliers and stakeholders collaborate to improve working and environmental conditions through leading standards and practices.



 

Code of Conduct 6.0

The RBA Code of Conduct is a set of social, environmental and ethical industry standards.


The RBA Code of Conduct is a set of social, environmental and ethical industry standards. The standards set out in the Code of Conduct reference international norms and standards including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, ILO International Labor Standards, OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, ISO and SA standards, and many more. While the Code of Conduct originated with the electronics industry in mind, it is applicable to and used by many industries beyond electronics.

The RBA Code of Conduct version 5.0 was ratified in 2014 and went into effect on April 1, 2015. In March of 2015, the RBA membership held a special out-of-cycle vote to further amend section A1 – Freely Chosen Employment – of the Code. The approved language, which moved the Code to zero fees for workers, can be viewed here. The current Definition of Fees, effective Jan. 1, 2019, related to this new language can be viewed here. The recently updated Definition of Fees, which go into effect on Jan. 1, 2020, related to that language can be viewed here

Version 5.1 of the Code went into effect on Jan. 1, 2016. Version 6.0 of the RBA Code of Conduct was ratified in 2017 and went into effect Jan. 1, 2018. Version 6.0 can be viewed here and in multiple languages below.

In addition, to fully understand the detailed RBA Code of Conduct requirements, please view version 6.0.1 of the RBA Code Interpretation Guidance, which can be found within the public version of the VAP Operations Manual here in English.

View upcoming trainings on the RBA Code of Conduct and VAP here.

P-shine ELECTRONIC TECH LTD has been registered as a member of RBA code of conduct