On 8 March 2022, more than 10 years after its inception in January 2010, the JAC (Joint Audit Cooperation) has transitions into a legal entity under the juridical International Non-Profit Association configuration with the new name “Joint Alliance for CSR” (JAC) located in Belgium.

The evolution of the JAC into a legal entity was necessary to respond to the challenges that the success of this initiative has had, with the rapidly increasing number of new members. It was inspired by the need to be organized with a more agile structured governance, to make decisions and oversee operations within a more equitable contribution between members and ease the management of costs.

From a voluntary initiative of cooperation between telecom operators, mainly focused on sharing audit results on compliance with CSR standards in the supply chain, the JAC legal entity has a greater scope of activities in a more engaging legal framework.

Benefits of the evolution of the JAC initiative to a Non-Profit Association will ensure:

• Higher agility to manage, control budget, simplify contracts, NDA negotiations and signature.
• Equal sharing of the management costs among the members and therefore reducing reliance on few JAC member’s resources.
• Improvement of the operational cost by collecting funds from organizations promoting programs to develop sustainability in the supply chain.
• Effectiveness of the JAC members efforts by sharing audits results, best practices and promoting programs (e.g. JAC Academy) aiming at reinforcing CSR capability in supplier’s factories by cascading JAC requirements to the tier 2, 3.
• Continuous improvement by dedicated Task Forces to update the scope of the JAC actions beyond audit and in relation to new challenges and legislation requirements.
• As a platform linking telecom operators and suppliers. JAC will be one driving force to push forward and upward our ambitious objectives together with other international organizations like GSMA, such as carbon neutrality, supply chain transparency and responsible transformation of our industry.

Scope of the activities:

The focus of the JAC’s activities will continue to be the on on-site audit campaigns across the different layers of the supply chain, however the new configuration will also allow for better sharing of resources to build capacity for action on new frontiers of sustainability in the production chain: reducing CO2 emissions, integrating circular economy, preventing modern slavery, avoiding use of conflict minerals.

The purpose and activities of the association set out in the statutes are as follows:

• To gather Telecom Operators and Industrials in the telecom sector to develop the best way for setting up the corporate social responsibility (CSR) within suppliers’ and subcontractors’ manufacturing plants.
• To develop specific training programs in the domain of CSR and related audits and by any means (face-to-face and / or digital), to its members, the suppliers, and their subcontractors.
• Carry out any operations that may relate directly or indirectly to the specified object, including the development of computer tools necessary for the proper management of the Association’s missions

The JAC Governance:

JAC Governance is structured around three entities:

1. The General Assembly (GA)
2. The Board of Directors (BoD)
3. The operational Assembly with related Task Forces

Members of the JAC international Non-Profit Association

Founding members were: Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefonica, Telstra

At the moment of its constitution the association is made up of eighteen members companies that represent more than 50% of the telecom world-wide turnover and significant related geographical coverage.

Our Current Members:

• 13 European: BT, DT, ELISA, KPN, ORANGE, PROXIMUS, SWISSCOM, TDC, TELEFONICA, TELENOR, TELIA, TIM, VODAFONE
• 2 North American: ATT, VERIZON
• 1 Russian: MTS
• 1 South Africa: MTN
• 1 Australian: TELSTRA

Requirement to become JAC member

• Being a telecom operator.
• Have CSR organisation in place with structured with roles and responsibilities
• Have own policies, and code of conduct compliant with the principles of:
• Global Compact,
• The JAC Association Ethical Code of Conduct and
• JAC Supply Chain Sustainability Guidelines.
• Have accepted the Statute of the JAC Association and the internal rules
• Have accepted to carry on at least five audits per year
• Committed to science-based target (SBTi). If no target is set yet, they should have commit to setting one in the near future.