Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) and the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) have signed a new MoU, signifying another step in their five-year-old partnership to drive environmental and social best practices in the global apparel, textile and footwear supply chain.

The objectives detailed in this third MoU include: ensuring broad adoption and alignment around the Higg Index as the ‘go-to’ supply chain sustainability management tool for companies in the industry sectors in which it applies, starting with apparel and footwear; avoid duplication of efforts among groups and serve as a model for other industries as a collaborative effort and catalyst for change among others.

The new agreement includes specific Higg Index adoption targets set by OIA for its members as well as a commitment from the SAC to provide OIA members with access to the Higg Index web tool through 2017 and beyond. (OIA is subsidizing small to medium enterprise members’ access to the tool in 2016 as part of its campaign to boost broader adoption of the Higg Index.) To date, 53 outdoor industry brands have Higg.org accounts, 43 Brand Modules are in progress or completed, and 21 Brand Modules have been posted.