Governance Taking responsibility The vast majority of our procurement contracts are with suppliers based in Europe. 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 risk-based audit planning, all suppliers are evaluated in terms of their scope for improvement and against other pre-defined criteria. As part of our site-based supplier selection process, all suppliers are required to complete a self-declaration in this regard. Environmental and occupational safety issues are also evaluated as part of our standard supplier audit process. 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. At the company headquarters in Austria, 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. Since autumn 2022, Blum has been a member of the Supplier Ethical Data Exchange (SEDEX), a global data platform for sharing detailed information about sustainable production and compliance with ethical principles across the supply chain. ➔ GRI 414-1, GRI 414-2, GRI 409-1 74 © Copyright by Blum
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