Communication Guidelines

Responsible Sourcing Network (RSN) wants to ensure the mission and approach of the due diligence initiative YESS: Yarn Ethically & Sustainably Sourced, as well as the organizations that are members of YESS, are all represented accurately. With this in mind, YESS members are required to use the below approved talking points when communicating about YESS in all public communications (e.g., social media posts, website, sustainability reports, etc.).

1.     A YESS Member MAY:  

·       Display its YESS membership status.

·       Display the YESS web address (https://www.sourcingnetwork.org/yess). 

·       Display the YESS logo on a web site. We encourage you to hyperlink the YESS logo to the YESS web address (https://www.sourcingnetwork.org/yess).

2.     A YESS Member is ALLOWED to state:

·       That the Member is a member of YESS.

·       That the Member supports the work of YESS.

·       The Member’s history and progress regarding YESS.

3.     A YESS Member is NOT ALLOWED to:

·       State anything that can lead customers or stakeholder to believe that its YESS membership implies that its supply chain, suppliers, cotton products, or own operations are “free of forced labor” or “slavery-free” or similar wording.

·       Imply that “YESS conformance” or other YESS assessment status indicate that all the cotton sourced by a YESS-conformant spinning mill or fabric mill is free of forced labor.

·       Imply that YESS is a product, facility, or supply chain certification.

4.     NON-YESS-MEMBERSHIP ORGANIZATIONS are NOT ALLOWED to use the YESS name or trademark logo in any way.


YESS Members’ Approved Talking Points

Sample Sentence:

As a YESS member, we are committed to supporting ethical sourcing practices, contributing to a risk-based due diligence approach, and participating in collaborative efforts to identify and address forced labor in cotton production. 

When explaining or describing YESS or the YESS Standards, YESS members are ALLOWED to use text from YESS’s FAQs verbatim, or the following:

YESS: Yarn Ethically and Sustainably Sourced is an initiative of Responsible Sourcing Network (RSN) which aims to eliminate forced labor in cotton production through a due diligence approach. YESS is dedicated to creating an industry-wide due diligence program for spinning mills and fabric mills to identify and address cotton produced with forced labor in their supply chains.

YESS Mission

To create an industry-wide due diligence program for spinning mills and fabric mills to identify and address cotton produced with forced labor in their value chains.

YESS Vision

Yarn spinning and fabric mills are empowered and supported in the development and implementation of due diligence systems.

Industry actors, diverse stakeholders, and local communities are collaborating to determine root causes, assess risk, eliminate forced labor, and remediate harm in the cotton industry globally.

The YESS due diligence approach is expanded to address other labor and human rights, and environmental risks in the production of cotton and other raw materials.