In many countries, Nike has found that local factory standards are not high enough. Since then, we have added a number of checks and balances to ensure factories are, in fact, in compliance with the standards in that Code, and our Manufacturing Leadership Standards. Our objective is to improve the work environment of the people who make our products.
Monitoring is a complex and evolving concept.
Many respected organizations are testing concepts and offering analysis of what monitoring should be as well as could be used by companies like Nike to ensure manufacturer compliance with codes and labor laws. We don't have all the answers, but we do have some experience that helps us to continue to improve our monitoring process. PwC teams are asked to look at labor practices performance at every factory making Nike products around the world, at least once each year. The Securities and Exchange Commission requires financial audits of publicly-traded companies precisely because those auditors live or die by their independent judgments of company financial statements. The independent financial auditor is trusted to judge company performance for shareholders, securities brokers and financial regulators by governments all over the world.