Good governance Corporate citizenship 63
Corporate citizenship Going beyond requirements We are committed to the highest ethical standards in all areas of our business and to operate in ways that are responsible and take into consideration all our stakeholders. Corporate citizenship is our social licence to operate. Maintaining this licence means going beyond meeting the requirements of laws and regulations to manage our business and practices in ways that build trust for the long term – to do ‘the right thing’. In pursuing socially responsible growth, we go beyond financial due diligence and establish leading ethical, social and environmental practices at our sites and areas of operations. We are committed to respect human rights wherever we do business and to provide safe and healthy working conditions for our employees, contractors and visitors, and strive to make a positive impact on the communities in which we are present. Our efforts and commitments around social responsibility and ethical business aspects, and progress on them, are iterated in our Principles of Conduct, Responsible Sourcing Policy, Commitment to Social Responsibility Position Statement, and in our annual UK Slavery Act and California Transparency Act Statements.
Principles in daily actions within their own sphere of influence and with business partners and stakeholders. Impact assessments relating to human rights in our operations and supply chain are managed through continuous engagement and diverse interventions, embedded in many of our standard operating procedures and practices. The focus of these assessments ranges from high-level due diligence to covering more salient aspects, in particular the ones relating to health, safety or child labour. All forms of child or forced labour are against our principles. This applies to employment within Givaudan and to the partners and suppliers with whom we work. Our Principles of Conduct stipulate we do not practice or tolerate any form of child exploitation or forced labour and that we do not provide employment to children before they have completed their compulsory education. This applies to employment within Givaudan and to the partners and suppliers with whom we work. For business partners and suppliers, our Responsible Sourcing Policy specifies that suppliers must not use child labour (or forced labour) and are expected to comply with all reporting obligations regarding the abolition of child labour and human trafficking. Responsible sourcing, page 53
We endorse the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and base our human rights commitment on the International Bill of Human Rights consisting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Labour Organization’s Fundamental Conventions on Rights at Work.
Givaudan is an active member of Sedex, a global platform which incorporates human rights risks in its assessments. Since 2010, all our manufacturing sites have been registered on Sedex and have completed Sedex self-assessment questionnaires. At the end of 2019, 45 of our production sites were registered on Sedex, and had been audited as per the set standard, i.e. Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit (SMETA). As we acquire companies, we integrate them into our processes and platforms.
The basis of our ethical standards, specifically Responsible Corporate Citizenship, can be found in our Principles of Conduct, which is supported by policies and guidelines. We expect every employee to be accountable for upholding our
We also participate in the EcoVadis CSR assessments, disclosing detailed information around our business practices on human rights and labour aspects besides environment, ethics and responsible procurement. In the 2019 assessment, we
Promoting human rights
Givaudan – 2019 Integrated Annual Report
