Governance Taking responsibility The vast majority of our procurement contracts are with suppliers based in Austria, Germany, Italy and Switzerland. In addition to complying with all applicable legislation, we expect them and all our other suppliers to share our values and adhere to the standards stipulated by us. To verify compliance, we conduct regular supplier evaluations and audits and these form a key component of our supplier management system. As part of our supplier selection process, all suppliers are required to complete a self-declaration. The following areas are also evaluated as part of our standard supplier audit process: quality standards, energy and the environment, sustainability, risk factors and occupational health and safety. In addition, the first time a supplier is audited, we examine the supplier’s own code of conduct or any other mandatory rules of conduct they use to ensure compliance with ethical, environmental and labour law standards. As part of our risk-based audit planning, all suppliers are evaluated in terms of their scope for improvement and against other pre-defined criteria. We also conduct regular sanction pre-screening. If this screening shows up areas of concern, we will commission a more detailed audit. Depending on their audit result and categorisation, suppliers are audited either at regular intervals or on a needs basis. Our fundamental goal is always to maintain a dialogue with our partners so that we can define actions for improvement together, discuss potential measures and implement changes. However, if suppliers are repeatedly in breach of the agreed standards or are unwilling to cooperate with us, we reserve the right to terminate our business relationship with them. ➔ GRI 414-1, GRI 414-2, GRI 409-1 Sedex assessment Julius Blum GmbH has been a member of the Supplier Ethical Data Exchange (Sedex) since autumn 2022. Sedex is a global data platform for sharing detailed information about ethical and sustainable production practices within the supply chain. At Blum, we pride ourselves not only on producing high quality and highly functional products, but also on our sustainability credentials. We take our responsibilities in this area very seriously and are happy to give our customers access to documentation and information that demonstrates our compliance with the relevant legal regulations and requirements as well as ethical principles and sustainability standards. 82 © Copyright by Blum
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