Compliance with the Act on Corporate Due Diligence Obligations in Supply Chains (LkSG)
On January 1st, 2023, the Act on Corporate Due Diligence Obligations in Supply Chains (LkSG) came into force in Germany. Kaufland is aware of its responsibility regarding the observance of human and environmental protection and has therefore been to fair social standards, ecological standards and working conditions in global supply chains for years. The aim is to promote their importance and prevent their violation.
Compliance with human rights and environmental standards
At Kaufland, we take our responsibility seriously. For this reason, we have introduced measures to ensure compliance with human rights and environmental standards. These are not limited to risks within our company, but also include our suppliers in accordance with the legal requirements.
Our primary goal is to identify and prevent the violation of rights. And, where this is not possible, to minimize or terminate it. To this end, we constantly revise our processes and take further measures where necessary. We therefore welcome binding regulations such as the LkSG and the planned European Supply Chain Act.
Measures in our compliance-management-system
In order to maintain our obligations under the LkSG, we at Kaufland - with the participation of all relevant departments - have prepared ourselves for compliance with the legal requirements and have implemented, among others, the following measures in our compliance-management-system:
- Policy statement and risk analysis
We have summarized our standards and our commitment to respecting the social and ecological requirements of the LkSG in a separate policy statement. It complements and concretizes the existing principles of the Schwarz Group, which you will find here. The commitment of the Schwarz Group companies to respect human rights and environmental standards. With these documents, we reaffirm our expectations of the daily actions of our employees and business partners on this topic. Regular risk-analyses and controls are also an essential measure. The aim of the risk-analysis of our global supply-chains is to continuously uncover and assess the potential and real risk of human rights violations and, where necessary, to derive specific preventive measures.
- Obligation of our suppliers
We oblige all suppliers to comply with human rights and environmental laws through a contractual clause and our Code of Conduct. Before signing a contract, new suppliers undergo a risk-based compliance-check. This enables us to examine possible risks in terms of social and ecological criteria and to take measures prior to entering a contractual relationship.
- Training
Based on the latest developments, we regularly train our employees on topics such as human rights, environmental protection and reporting options. We also provide our business partners with a training of the relevant content.
- Notifications and procedures
Kaufland set up a whistle-blower system years ago. Anyone can use it to submit relevant information about human rights and environmental risks or violations. To ensure the best possible transparency, our process relating to this are laid down in this rules of procedure.
If you become aware of any risks or violations of human rights or environmental laws, please inform us. There are several ways to report. You can find our reporting channels here.
A report will be prepared and published annually on the fulfillment of the obligations under the LkSG.
Please contact us if you have any questions: compliance@kaufland.com