WOOLWORTHS' "ethical sourcing" policy has been slammed by Australia's peak vegetable body.
The supermarket giant says it requires the same standards relating to environment, chemicals and animal and workers' rights from its international suppliers as it does from its Australian suppliers.
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But AusVeg chief executive Richard Mulcahy branded the audits a "costly public-relations exercise" following a meeting with Woolworths last week.
"Perhaps Woolworths can claim that their international suppliers are meeting the local laws in regards to freedom of association, but any reasonable person knows that a worker in Communist China does not have the same freedoms as a worker in Australia," Mr Mulcahy said.
"Perhaps a supplier in Communist China will be compliant with the local law but it is not fair to say that they are treating their workers in the same manner as Australian growers."
The policy was "inconsistent and shallow", Mr Mulcahy said, and AusVeg would discuss it at an upcoming board meeting as it remained "unsatisfied".
But a Woolworths spokesman said customers wanted "to be reassured that we are taking active steps to ensure ethical standards are being met".
"Any product produced overseas, in any country, must pass these same standards as for domestic suppliers," the spokesman said.
"It would be disappointing if any Australian grower failed an ethical audit as Australia has a strongly regulated market with clear workers' rights."
But Mr Mulcahy accused Woolworths of "second-guessing governments by stepping into areas that are the responsibility of Workcover, the Immigration Department and the Workplace Ombudsman" and said growers were swamped with paperwork.
The spokesman said Woolworths was "always happy to work with our suppliers to implement any improvements needed to any of our processes".
"The vast majority of our growers support strong audit systems that ensure good business practices, quality and safety are maintained, and we fully expect that the our growers will easily meet or exceed these standards," he said.
