The SA8000® Standard is regularly revised to ensure its continued applicability in the face of new and emerging social and human rights issues. The latest revision took place from May 2013 to February 2014, resulting in the launch of the SA8000:2014 Standard. This Standard supersedes previous versions from 2001, 2004 and 2008.
SAI organized an expert panel including 33 subject-matter experts from NGOs, private companies, and academia in May–July 2013. The group had a near even regional representation of experts from North America (12), Europe (11), and Asia-Pacific (10). The Standards Committee analyzed information gathered from the expert panel to direct the revision of the SA8000® Standard.
For a 60-day period between December 2013 and February 2014, SAI invited all interested parties to contribute their comments and suggestions for the revision during a public consultation. Over 200 respondents submitted more than 900 comments that were considered in the revision process.
Revisions to SA8000 are conducted in accordance with the ISEAL Code of Good Practice for Setting Social and Environmental Standards.
The transition period from SA8000:2008 to SA8000:2014 began on January 1, 2016 and ended on December 31, 2017, by which date all organizations certified to SA8000:2008 had to upgrade to SA8000:2014 to maintain their certification.
