“Concrete suspected cases”
VW suspects human rights violations in the supply chain
November 17, 2023, 4:43 p.m
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Since January, German companies with more than 3,000 employees have been obliged to respect human rights. VW presents its first annual report and does not recognize any grievances within the company. When it comes to suppliers, however, things are different.
Since the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act came into force at the beginning of the year, the Volkswagen Group has not yet identified any human rights violations. “There have been no human rights violations in our own business area since the law came into force,” said the company’s human rights officer, Kerstin Waltenberg, on the occasion of the presentation of her first annual report. However, “risks and specific suspected cases have been identified” throughout the entire supply chain – including all suppliers. There is still “potential for improvement” here.
The German supply chain law came into force at the beginning of the year. Companies with more than 3,000 employees have an obligation to ensure compliance with human rights throughout their production and must submit an annual report on this. “Our aim is to initially implement the law as best as possible this year,” said Waltenberg. Next year we want to go beyond the legal minimum requirements.
According to VW, the controversial Urumqi plant in the Chinese province of Xinjiang does not fall under the law because it is not operated by VW itself, but by a joint venture with the Chinese manufacturer Saic. “It’s still not the case that we’re ignoring the work because of this,” emphasized Waltenberg. “We’re looking there.” CEO Oliver Blume announced in the summer that an independent audit would be carried out there by the end of the year. The location, which opened in 2013, has been criticized for possible human rights abuses in the province.