van Berings seeks excellence in every aspect of its business, is committed to minimizing the social, environmental and ethical impacts of its supply chain, throughout the lifecycles of goods and services.
van Berings recognizes supply chain sustainability as a key component of Corporate Sustainability and in doing so strictly follows the guidelines established by the UN Global Compact, which asks companies to embrace, support and enact, within their sphere of influence, a set of core values in the areas of human rights, labor standards, environment and anti-corruption.
We endeavor to make a positive contribution to the environment and the community while meeting our business needs when purchasing goods and services and require our suppliers to act in a responsible manner and manage their own supply chains accordingly
In particular, van Berings requires its suppliers to comply with the following Policy Principles:
Business ethics and legal compliance:
- to comply with applicable national and international laws, regulations, as well as generally accepted practices;
- not to participate in or support any form of corruption, bribery or money laundering;
- to disclose any material information related to its business with van Berings in a timely manner, as well as to report actively any deficiency related to the information provided;
- to act with integrity in all business relationships.
Human and labor rights
- to comply with applicable national laws and regulations regarding human and labor rights, as well as with the principles of the UN Declaration of Human Rights and the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work ;
- to pay at least the minimum wage, as required by national law;
- not to employ or do business with subcontractors or suppliers that employ persons under the minimum age;
- not to rely on forced labor;
- not to discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national or ethnic origin, sex, gender identity, age, sexual orientation, disability, political affliation, or other comparable reasons;
- not to perform or tolerate any type of physical punishment or physical, sexual, psychological or verbal harassment or abuse
Occupational health and safety
- to comply with applicable national laws and regulations regarding occupational health and safety;
- to prevent accidents, injuries and occupational diseases by implementing procedures aimed at identifying and evaluating work-related hazards;
- to educate employees on hazard mitigation, risk control and safe working methods;
- to provide employees with appropriate occupational health services, including statutory insurance coverage, and all necessary training required by applicable laws;
- to report and investigate any health and safety accidents.
Enviromental
- to comply with applicable national laws and regulations regarding environmental issues;
- to prevent pollution and implement procedures for addressing environmental issues and minimize potential environmental impacts;
- to apply for and obtain valid environmental permits, where required, and to fulfil any reporting requirements connected therewith;
- to educate employees on environmental topics and procedures associated with their specific tasks;
- to follow specific guidelines when processing and disposing of potentially hazardous waste by identifying hazardous substances and handling them in a safe and controlled way;
- to continuously evaluate and update safety procedures in case of accidents;
- to replace hazardous substances with harmless alternatives wherever possible;
- to draft and improve upon emergency action plans in order to ensure that any potential environmental accident shall be managed in the best possible way to minimize negative consequences for the environment.
Products and services
- to guarantee product safety by ensuring that the products supplied to van Berings meet the mandatory product safety requirements;
- not to use any restricted materials and to comply with the substance restrictions as defined by the European Union’s RoHS Directive (Restriction of the uses of certain Hazardous Substances), REACH regulation (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals.
General requirements
- to implement a remediation procedure in case of violations concerning human rights, health and safety or environmental issues;
- to report any violations or breaches of this policy to van Berings;
- to embed van Berings’ sustainable procurement principles in their workplace and to promote them throughout their own supply chains;
- to adhere to all applicable laws and regulations, as well as sustainable and ethical operating principles;
- to allow van Berings to monitor and asses the compliance with the regulations and principles stated above, through questionnaires and audits, in order to identify and assess any potential sustainability risk or non compliance.
Evaluation & Enforcement
In case of non-compliance, van Berings reserves the right to refuse partnerships with suppliers that do not achieve, do not maintain, or are unable to demonstrate progress towards these principles, and who adopt approaches which are inconsistent with applicable laws and regulations and with van Berings sustainable and ethical operating principles.