In today’s fast-changing world, disruptions to supply chains, shortages or scarcity of certain resources, and cost increases are realities that can have an impact on companies. A robust responsible purchasing policy helps you to better anticipate these hazards. By identifying areas of vulnerability upstream, you can strengthen your organization’s resilience and secure your supply chains!
AFNOR is here to help you carry out your assessments more effectively. Our experts can help you make your purchasing a strategic lever for risk prevention, overall performance and corporate social responsibility (CSR). The international reference framework for responsible purchasing is the voluntary ISO 20400 standard, which offers a structured, pragmatic approach.
To consolidate your approach, here are the essential steps to follow:
- Learn about the challenges of responsible purchasing
- Map and prioritize CSR risks by purchasing category and geographic zone.
- Analyze your suppliers’ performance and resilience in the face of these challenges
- Keep abreast of regulatory, ethical, social and environmental developments likely to impact or enhance your purchasing performance.
We explain it all below.
Responsible purchasing: a strategic lever
Responsible purchasing is of strategic importance to companies. If you want to stay ahead of the game and anticipate problems in your supply chain, you need to know how to anticipate all risks, including ethical, social and environmental considerations. Responsible purchasing means selecting innovative products, suppliers and service providers in a way that minimizes these risks, while promoting good environmental, ethical and human rights practices.
It’s fair to say that the subject has taken on a different dimension since 2013 and the Rana Plaza tragedy in Bangladesh, the building that housed textile manufacturing activities subcontracted by major fashion brands, and which claimed over a thousand lives when it collapsed. For a prime contractor, the ethical risk is coupled with a reputational risk that can be extremely damaging in this age of globalization and social networks.
Implementing a responsible purchasing policy enables companies to circumscribe these risks by meeting legal requirements, such as the duty of care introduced by French law in 2017 and duplicated in the European Union with the CS3D directive . This law obliges major companies to prevent human rights and environmental abuses throughout their value chain. Proactive supplier risk management is essential to ensure business continuity and protect the company’s reputation.
Here are some key definitions and clarifications:
Everything you need to know about purchasing standards
Buyers can rely on standards that provide guidelines and list best practices. These voluntary international standards help you deploy a management system, in a spirit of continuous improvement.
Purchasing and CSR
An integral part of a CSR approach, a successful responsible purchasing or events policy is one that is structured and carefully managed.
Find out more: Tools for responsible purchasing and events
Risk management
The voluntary ISO 31000 standard has been the benchmark for risk management since its publication in 2009. This voluntary international standard was revised in 2018 to better “stick” to the expectations of users, primarily corporate risk managers.
Find out more: Risk management standards
QSE
The purchasing function and the QSE function are intimately linked. Like other corporate functions, the purchasing function is very concerned by quality management, environmental management and occupational health and safety management.
Find out more: QSE standards
Anti-corruption (Sapin 2 law)
Supplier risk must also be addressed from the angle of preventing corruption. Especially since the Sapin 2 law of 2016 on transparency, the fight against corruption and the modernization of economic life, a risk against which companies must protect themselves, within their own ranks or as principals to dishonest suppliers. In particular, this law institutes protection for whistle-blowers.
Find out more: anti-corruption guidelines
CS3D and European duty of care
France’s Duty of Vigilance law has set an example in Europe: a new version of the European CS3D(Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive) of 2024 is being studied to duplicate the measure in all 27 EU countries, by lowering the thresholds for liability.
(in terms of sales and number of employees) and in relation to the Sustainability Reporting Directive (SRD). Initiated in 2023, the work was halted in 2025, the time needed for the European trialogue to adjust the content, with application postponed to 2028. The CS3D, which covers human, social and environmental rights, establishes an obligation of means. These directives are currently being simplified.
You can find all the latest news on these changes here : CSRD: sustainability report objective
Public purchasing and integrity
This standard specifies requirements and recommendations for purchasing organizations concerning integrity and accountability in public purchasing processes, from the identification of needs to the delivery of products, services or works.
Find out more: Norme NF EN 17687 on the AFNOR store
Solidarity shopping
This document details the methodology for successfully implementing a solidarity-based purchasing approach, as well as performance indicators for measuring and steering the policy.
To find out more: consultAFNOR SPEC 2202 on the AFNOR store
Risk mapping
AFNOR’s risk mapping isa scalable tool that provides a precise analysis of your purchasing nomenclature at the finest level. This solution is already used by many public and private organizations, such as the French State Purchasing Department, Française des Jeux, Hermès, Saint-Gobain, UGAP, Daher…), i.e. over 10,000 buyers. More than 750 purchasing families have already been developed.
It is based on the recommendations of the three recognized international standards mentioned above: ISO 20400 (responsible purchasing), ISOISO 31000 (risk management) andISO 26000 (social responsibility) and enables three fundamental actions:
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1. Identify gross risks, i.e. the potential risks inherent in a purchasing family on 13 CSR issues (5 environmental, 5 social and 3 business ethics).
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2. Assess criticality on an international scale (over 170 countries covered).
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3. Manage net risk.
More details and answers to frequently asked questions below:
Risk mapping is part of a coherent set of tools and services offered by our Purchasing Solutions department. Discover them below…
Purchasing: our solutions
A successful responsible purchasing policy is one that is structured and carefully managed. AFNOR offers you a range of tools and services adapted to the main actions:
Understanding your challenges
Our teams, led by our experts Bruno Frel and Vincent Leroux-Lefebvre, Michel Auffant and Murielle Tranchant, as well as Max Bizouaird and Céclia Lebigot from AFNOR Certification, Cindy Shen from AFNOR International and Florent Bernolin from AFNOR Compétences, are here to guide you.
Discover the issues
For those who want to discover all the issues, two reference books are available:
- Les achats responsables : mise en œuvre de l’ISO 20400 published by AFNOR Editions with the Observatoire des achats responsables
- White paper : “Buyers, beware of supplier risks!
- See also our FAQ
Advice, support and tools
Our teams offer advice and assistance:
- STRATEGIC in the construction, formalization and structuring of your approach (maturity diagnosis, purchasing policy, supplier charters, roadmaps or SPASERs, organization and resources of the function, management, monitoring indicators, etc.).
- OPERATIONAL at all stages of the purchasing process (sourcing, characterization of needs, development of purchasing strategies, assistance in drafting tender documents and analyzing bids, etc.).
Our services are aligned with the recommendations of ISO 20400 standards and guarantee compliance with public procurement rules.
We offer you ongoing support for all our solutions, including our three flagship tools:
Consulting services, audits and/or certification
- LRFAR label : support and audits
- ISO 20400 assessment : status and maturity audits
- Supplier audits on-site
Promote your exemplary actions
Visit AFNOR Certification Purchasing Solutions range offers tools to improve the performance of purchasing departments by controlling risks and strengthening supplier relations. Among these solutions, ACESIA is an operational tool enabling buyers to assess and monitor the CSR performance of their suppliers, and to better anticipate and manage the associated risks.
AFNOR Certification also offers supplier risk audits and assessments such as the AFAQ Focus RSE Achats Responsables, aimed at clarifying purchasing processes, identifying best practices and facilitating access to new markets.
Get trained!
- Responsible Purchasing – NF ISO 20400 – Guidelines
- Career path – Becoming a CSR Buyer
- Preparing your RFAR application
- Implementing a decarbonization strategy in Responsible Purchasing
- Responsible Purchasing – an opportunity to transform the textile and clothing industry
- Responsible Purchasing – ethics and anti-corruption
- Implementing a Responsible Purchasing approach in a sports organization
We also offer two e-learning courses:
Share purchases: testimonials
An example to follow in Normandy:
Responsible purchasing: from concept to practice in Normandy
The AFNOR group offered 12 small and medium-sized businesses in Normandy a package of training, diagnostics, benchmarks and tools to help them initiate a responsible purchasing approach. This is an opportunity to be seized, with the support of ADEME, to make purchasing an effective lever for controlling supplier risks.
Vincent Leroux-Lefebvre
Purchasing and supplier risks expert
Bruno Frel
Purchasing and supplier risks expert
