Responsible Sourcing & Sustainability

Target is committed to a sustainable and inclusive supply chain that is just and equitable for all workers. We hold ourselves to the highest ethical standards and we expect our business partners to do the same. 

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Our mission

We partner with vendors and suppliers to achieve high labor and environmental standards for Target brand and Target imported products. Our mission is to ensure that our vendors utilize factories where workers are valued, the environment is protected and business is conducted in an ethical way. 

Our responsible sourcing and sustainability teams work together to improve supply chain oversight and remediation, integrate responsible sourcing practices into our business operations and consistently seek out innovative solutions to advance performance beyond compliance.  

Our philosophy 

When it comes to sourcing products, we take a page from our company's founder, George Dayton, who was well known for his strong business ethics.  

Today, we still strive to ensure our suppliers manufacture all of our products under the highest ethical standards, comply with all applicable laws and work with vendors and factories who share those commitments. We also work with regulators, manufacturers, industry organizations and other retailers around the world to continually set the bar higher for our industry. At all times we look for opportunities to improve our standards and processes.  

Our expectations 

We are committed to using our reach and influence to protect people and uphold environmental and social responsibility standards throughout our global supply chain. We expect all our domestic and international business partners to respect human rights, and to comply with Target’s SOVE and all applicable laws pertaining to human rights, including, without limitation, all laws applicable to workplace health, safety, labor and employment. All our vendor relationships are guided by the Business Partner Code of Conduct. This includes our Standards of Vendor Engagement (SOVE), which outlines our expectations for vendors and serves as the anchor for embedding human rights throughout our supply chain, alongside our labor and human rights policies. These core documents define the scope of our vendors’ ethical operations obligations.  

Additionally, Applying Target’s SOVE is a detailed guidebook on Target’s expectations for supply chain human rights, as well as environmental standards we expect from suppliers — has been made available to vendors in 10 different languages. 

Applying Target's Standards of Vendor Engagement

This guidebook builds upon Target’s SOVE to provide detailed information on our expectations for ethical business practices, and for social, labor and environmental sustainability.  

Applying the SOVE — Bengali

Applying the SOVE — English

Applying the SOVE — French

Applying the SOVE — Indonesian

Applying the SOVE — Khmer

Applying the SOVE — Korean

Applying the SOVE — Simplified Chinese

Applying the SOVE — Spanish

Applying the SOVE — Traditional Chinese

Applying the SOVE — Vietnamese