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Service Background

Sustainable Apparel Coalition(SAC)

SAC is the most important alliance for sustainable production in the apparel, footwear, and textile industries. In 2009, Walmart, the largest US retailer, and Patagonia met to discuss gathering input from the apparel, footwear, and textile industries to jointly develop a common approach to measuring sustainability performance. Today, the coalition has over 200 members, including brands (such as Walmart and Disney), retailers, and governments.

Higg Index

Higg Index, developed by the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, is a suite of tools that enables brands, retailers, and facilities of all sizes—at every stage of their sustainability journey—to accurately measure and evaluate the sustainability performance of their companies or products. Higg Index provides a comprehensive overview, empowering businesses to make meaningful improvements to protect the well-being of factory workers, local communities, and the environment.

FEM（Facility Environment Module）

The abbreviation for the Facility Environmental Module is Higg FEM. It is a tool developed by the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) to assess the environmental performance of factories. The vision of SAC is to create a world where the apparel, footwear, and textile industries do not cause unnecessary environmental pollution and have a positive impact on the people and communities associated with their activities.

Higg FEM Certification

CTI Certification has the relevant qualifications to provide Higg FEM validation services for enterprises in the apparel, footwear, and textile industries, assessing the environmental performance of factories and reducing unnecessary environmental pollution in the production process.

Higg FEM Certification Content

Higg FEM includes the following seven modules:

The Significance and Benefits of Higg FEM

1.The tool measures and quantifies the sustainability impacts of facilities
The Higg FEM also reduces redundancy, identifies inefficiencies to mitigate risks, and creates a common language for communicating sustainability to stakeholders.

2.The Higg FEM standardizes how facilities measure and assess their annual environmental performance

The tool provides a clear picture of the environmental impact of manufacturers and their facilities on the environment and the world at large. The Higg FEM helps manufacturers, brands, and retailers identify and prioritize opportunities for performance improvement. 

3.Reduces or Eliminates “Audit Fatigue
Higg FEM is global environmental validation program. All validation records are stored on the Higg platform, allowing factories to directly share verified FEM results with stakeholders. This reduces or eliminates "audit fatigue."

4.Factory Environmental Performance Improvement

Tracking factory environmental performance helps factories achieve year-on-year improvements.

HIgg FEM Certification Process

Facilities preparing to begin the Higg FEM verification should follow these steps:

1.Higg FEM Self-Assessment

Facilities must first directly confirm the timing and terms of the Certification with the verification body and register an account on the Higg platform. Facilities must first fully complete the Higg FEM Self-Assessment before they can proceed with the verification.

 2.Select Certification Institution
After completing the self-assessment and confirming the verification, select a certification institution (third-party organization). Once the FEM self-assessment is completed and purchased, you will see a "Select Certification Institution" button on the FEM homepage or within the FEM self-assessment. Click on "Select Verification Body," and a list of all registered Higg FEM certification organizations will appear. Click "Confirm" next to the certification organization that has confirmed the certification. You can also view the relevant certification institution contacts to ensure you have selected the certification institution.

 3.Publish The FEM Self-Assessment

You must publish the FEM Self-Assessment in order to submit it for verification. The completion rate of the self-assessment must reach 100%.

 4.Submit The Module For Certification
After selecting a Certification Institution, you will see the "Submit for Certification" option under "Assessment Progress." When you are ready to initiate the certification, click this button. Once submitted for certification, the system will notify the certification institution that they can assign a inspector and begin the certification process.

 5.The Inspector Conducts The On-Site Inspection

The certification organization assigns a inspector to conduct the on-site certification and submits the certification report within the specified time frame.

 6. Result Publication
After completing the certification assessment, you can open the module and publish the verified assessment to share it with your customers. You can publish it within the certification module or on the FEM homepage. Publishing the module will lock all the verified results and allow customers to view the published module.

HIGG FEM Scoring
The scoring system behind the Higg FEM is designed to drive behavioral change within the supply chain. FEM is based on a robust three-tier structure of good/better/best in terms of a facility’s environmental impact. The Higg FEM provides a total score of 100 points across the seven measured impact areas. Each impact area also receives a partial score, which is 14.3%. However, there are no pass/fail grades, no certificates, and no “good” or “bad” scores.