Responsible Contracting Pilot

Supporting the tea industry to embed responsible business practices in contracts.

Developing tea-specific model contract clauses for supply chain due diligence

We collaborated with the Responsible Contracting Project (RCP) to develop a set of model contract clauses aimed at addressing human rights and environmental issues within the tea industry.

The clauses are intended to provide guiding principles to ETP members and other actors operating across the tea sector, in particular, the growing number of tea enterprises that seek to distinguish themselves as responsible actors.

RCP develops and disseminates practical contractual tools to implement human rights and environmental due diligence in global commercial contracts.

  • 2024
  • Status: Completed
Private sector change
Economics
Environment
Equality
Climate resilient agriculture
Decent livelihoods
Empowered safe communities
Equal opportunities
Net zero tea
Zero deforestation
Global

Programme overview

We’ve teamed up with the Responsible Contracting Project to create contract clauses addressing human rights and environmental issues in tea.

Programme partners

ETP core funding, Ahmad Tea, DAVIDsTEA, Ostfriesische Tee Gesellschaft GmbH & Co. KG, Ringtons Limited, Taylors of Harrogate, and the Responsible Contracting Project

Together with several of our members, we partnered with The Responsible Contracting Project (RCP) to pilot the development of Tea Sector Model Clauses (TMCs) aimed at addressing human rights and environmental issues in the tea industry.

Contracts serve as an important mechanism for allocating rights and responsibilities between business partners – typically a buyer and supplier. However, traditional contracting models in the tea sector often place the responsibility for mitigating human rights and environmental impacts directly on tea gardens, ignoring the reality on the ground and the economic pressures buyers can exert on producers.

The clauses are intended to provide guiding principles to ETP members and other actors operating across the tea sector, in particular, the growing number of tea enterprises that seek to distinguish themselves as responsible actors.

These principles facilitate the transition from conventional contracting methods to contracts aligned with greater shared responsibility between the buyer and their supplier for due diligence.

Typically, contracts have put the risk and cost of upholding human rights and environmental standards onto suppliers. Shared responsibility is crucial to effectively manage the complex risks in tea’s dynamic supply chains.

The Tea Sector Model Clauses will help members and their suppliers implement their commitment to human rights and environmental due diligence.

Our aim is that these clauses will be used to implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct.

The clauses are also designed to help buyers and suppliers meet evolving legislative requirements.

The TMCs were published in September 2024. ETP members will be required to begin embedding the TMCs into their purchasing agreements through ETP’s revised membership rules due to come into effect in late 2024. RCP will continue to support ETP members as they move towards embedding the practices in the clauses into operations.