Retail group Ikea has completed face-to-face visits to all its 2000 suppliers to explain its code of conduct.
Ikea says the visits to supplier companies were arranged ‘to explain the consequences of the code to their business and to discuss how we can work together to reach the standards we have asked for’.
The three-page code, which came into force last year, covers social and working conditions, child labour and the environment.
The company has also asked suppliers to fill in a questionnaire as a ‘first step’ in assessing how well they are fulfilling the code’s requirements.
Three auditors – KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Intertek – have been chosen to carry out external verifications of suppliers, who are expected to work to an action plan if they fail to meet the code’s standards.
Ikea has set up an internal council, chaired by president Anders Dahlvig, ‘to solve any difficult issues where a supplier cannot or will not comply with the code’.
Around 1000 Ikea staff have received training on social and environmental issues.