Product Sourcing Policy

Our responsible product sourcing policy covers:

  • Health and Safety—Work is placed only in locations where no unusual risks are posed to the safety and well-being of REI's employees. This means we will avoid countries where incidents of political and/or social unrest or other factors may jeopardize the personal safety of our staff.
  • Work Environment—Suppliers and manufacturing partners are required to provide their workers with a safe and healthy work environment (and living space, as appropriate), in compliance with local laws and regulations.
  • Employment Practices—Workers may not be younger than 16 years (or younger than school compulsory age, if that is older than 16 years). All forms of forced labor are prohibited. Wages and benefits must meet legal requirements or the prevailing local industry standards, whichever is higher. Preference is given to business partners who work to respond to local community needs and the betterment of their employees' standard of living. Working hours may not exceed 60 hours (regular and overtime combined) per week on a regular scheduled basis, except under exceptional unforeseen circumstances, and overtime is to be compensated appropriately according to local and/or national law. We seek to work with partners who do not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, beliefs, heritage or citizen status, sexual orientation or disability.
  • Freedom of Association—Vendors are required to recognize and respect the legal rights of employees to free association and collective bargaining, including joining or not joining any association. If a specific country's law restricts the right to freedom of association, vendors are required to allow employees to raise job-related grievances without penalty or reprisal.
  • Environmental Commitment—We work to conduct our operations in an environmentally sensitive fashion and favor doing business with vendor and manufacturing partners that share our values. Vendors must commit to the disposal of production waste materials in an environmentally responsible manner according to the local laws and regulations. Vendors must also adhere to REI's restricted substances list, which prohibits the use of harmful and/or noxious substances in the manufacture of our products.

Our responsible sourcing guidelines are based on internationally accepted standards (including those recognized by the International LaborOrganization) and apply to vendors, both domestic and international, of products carrying the REI label and quality promise. Each vendor is responsible for ensuring that its own facilities and those of its suppliers meet or exceed the requirements of REI's policy. Each vendor must also maintain detailed, up-to-date records to document and substantiate compliance with our policy.

We pursue compliance with our sourcing guidelines through several means: inventories of factory practices (or "self-audits"), factory visits by members of our sourcing team and independent third-party audits. We take a long-term, partnership-centric approach and work closely with vendors and factories to ensure compliance and continuous improvements. When we find issues, we work together to understand and correct them in a timely manner. We believe that we can use our position as an industry leader and successful business to help bring about positive social and economic change through partnerships with our vendors. We know that if we walk away from a problem, it may never be solved and people's lives or the environment may be negatively impacted. In the end, if a vendor is unable or unwilling to correct violations, we will no longer do business with them.

We have completed independent audits of the majority of the factories that make products for REI. These factories represent 94 percent of the dollar value of the REI-branded products we sell.

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