Experience has shown that the most effective supply chain due diligence and compliance programs rely on regional staff to ensure compliance and accelerate impact. Having eyes and ears on the ground that understand the local context, can support suppliers, and inform internal strategy has many advantages. However, most companies cannot afford the luxury of a local team.

Our new Ask Our Experts service allows brands and suppliers convenient access to local, technical, due diligence and compliance experts, without the carrying costs associated with hiring and managing a local team.

Ask Our Experts is a Global Help Desk for Social & Environmental Compliance and Supply Chain Due Diligence started by MOSAIC. The help desk aims to provide businesses (brands and suppliers) with convenient access to a team of experienced professionals who can help them navigate the complex and ever-changing landscape of supply chain due diligence.

With a focus on corporate due diligence, responsible sourcing, in-country supplier-level labor compliance topics (e.g., child, forced, OSH, harassment, compensation, hours of work, discrimination, grievance systems, etc.) and environment, the experts will guide businesses to ensure that their supply chains are operating in an ethical and responsible manner.

Built into this service is access to Tess, our digital compliance expert. This conversational AI resource can respond to country-specific and/or internationally-relevant questions relating to social and environmental legal requirements and due diligence protocols. Tess works from a knowledge base that has been curated by technical sustainability and compliance experts, and is able to offer immediate response to inquiries in the preferred language of the brand or supplier.

The help desk and knowledge base cover geographic areas such as China, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Mexico, USA, Bangladesh, and Malaysia. In addition, our experts cover International (programmatic questions) related to mandatory Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence.

The help desk also offers support in strategic aspects of business such as unique standards, onboarding, auditing expectations, grievance mechanism, CAP processes, and more.

• Ensure your program remains informed and calibrated with evolving mandatory due diligence laws.
• Support your internal stakeholders as well as clients with quick answers to their due diligence questions.
• Improve internal team efficiencies, by reducing the time used researching and/or answering questions from internal stakeholders, clients or suppliers.
• Support your suppliers on their ESG and compliance journey.

SUBMIT YOUR FIRST QUESTION ON US

FAQ:

Q: Who are your experts and what qualifications do they have?

A: Our Ask Our Experts service is supported by experts selected and vetted by Mosaic. Depending on the country and topic we draw from a diverse group of highly experienced sustainability and compliance practitioners. Beyond the expertise of any one individual, using our advanced software platform experts can, where needed, work together to ensure the best advice and responses are being delivered. There is also 100% quality oversight and review of all responses.

Q: What topics are covered by the experts?

A: There are two broad topic categories. First, is corporate due diligence and responsible sourcing. The second is in-country supplier-level labor legal and compliance topics (e.g., child, forced, OSH, harassment, compensation, hours of work, discrimination, grievance systems, etc.) and environment.

Q: What geographic areas of coverage do you offer?

A: China, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Brazil, and Mexico. In addition, programmatic questions about mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence are also available.

Q: My company has unique standards. Can your help desk support unique aspects of my program?

A: If your company is a strategic customer, we can support unique aspects of your program. (e.g., unique standards, onboarding, auditing expectations, grievance mechanism, CAP processes, etc.)

Q: What is the typical response time if I want to engage with an in-country expert?

A: Within 24 hours unless the question requires additional research and/or outreach within our network.

Q: What is the fee structure? How much does it cost and who pays?

A: Brand/Retailer/Manufacturer pricing is calculated based on the number and type of users being supported (e.g., internal stakeholders and/or suppliers), as well as the countries covered.

Suppliers and/or factories may also buy, non-brand specific, subscriptions directly from Mosaic on a yearly basis.

Q: How does the service work exactly?

A: Once their account has been created, suppliers or internal stakeholders can submit any inquiry to Tess, our digital compliance expert, and receive real-time responses. If they prefer to ask our local or international experts, they fill out a very simple online form, referencing the unique customer ID. Once the request is received, depending on the type of question and complexity, they will receive a response within 24 hours. All questions and responses can be communicated in the preferred language of the customer.

Q: Do you provide legal advice?

A: No. While some of our experts are lawyers and the legal information provided in our knowledge base is reviewed by lawyers, we are not a legal advice service. No information found on our platform or provided by our experts should be considered or used as a replacement for appropriate legal advice.

Q: How do you ensure data privacy and security?

A: Our AI partner, Esger, is SOC2 certified, which is the highest level of data security in the software industry (these are audits conducted by third-party auditors in the industry). We take all measures to ensure that confidential company data does not leave a company’s ecosystem.

Q: Can Tess, the digital compliance expert, read only particular types of data/formats?

A: Tess has the capacity to ingest unstructured data and convert it to structured data, which means that it can input data in the form of any format (pdf, excel, or even raw data) and in any language to make sense of it (we currently support most major languages). When interacting directly with our team experts, the simple form also allows the uploading of attachments in any format.

Q: How do you ensure that the responses from Tess, the digital compliance expert, are accurate?

A: Think of Tess as an analyst. The more data you feed it, the more accurate the output is. That’s why we train our AI on specific country and company guidelines, regulations, and frameworks to ensure that the output is aligned with its specific needs.