The International Trade Centre, an agency of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, created Trade for Sustainable Development as a partnership-based programme to support sustainability practices in global supply chains. By adhering to the Trade for Sustainable Development Principles, companies and institutions are expected to embrace, support and enact -- within their sphere of influence -- a set of core values to support sustainable trade.
Principle 1: Support and promote sustainable trade practices, with regards to social, environmental, economic and management, quality and ethics issues at stake in the production, processing and trading of goods and services.
Principle 2: Contribute to efficiency in global supply chains by clear demonstration of openness to sharing good practices, to foster transparency, trust and inclusiveness at all levels of global supply chains.
Principle 3: Build on existing resources and methodologies with a collaborative approach avoiding duplication that may provoke proliferation of standards, multiplication of audits or assessment methodologies.
Principle 4: Act in alignment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, otherwise known as the Global Goals, addressing the root causes of poverty and the universal need for development that works for all people.
List of signatories as of December 2017:
ITC Sustainability