Ensuring that your company's Supplier Code of Conduct Policy is properly implemented in China requires dedicated effort and expertise. Since 2008, Scandic Sourcing has been conducting Supplier Code of Conduct audits in China, offering tailored programs aligned with updated Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) requirements and international reporting standards like GRI, CSRD, and ESRS.

Key Audit Concerns and Benefits:

• Labor and Safety Standards: Are your Chinese suppliers adhering to acceptable labor laws, including ensuring all workers are of legal age, covered by labor contracts, and receiving the minimum wage and overtime allowances?
• Environmental Regulations: Do your suppliers' factories meet environmental regulations, and are they managing pollution risks?
• Risk Identification: Scandic Sourcing helps identify and manage risks in your supply chain through a deep understanding of international code standards, ensuring that suppliers are accountable.

Customized Supplier Code of Conduct Audit Program

Scandic Sourcing offers a program that engages clients to create a tailored audit process, ensuring that it reflects internal values, international standards (ISO 14000, RBA, SA8000), and local laws. The approach is focused on engagement, encouragement, information, and continuous improvement, using Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to identify supplier weaknesses and track progress over time.

Program Develoment

• Materiality Analysis: In collaboration with client stakeholders, Scandic Sourcing identifies priority areas of risk, labor issues, and environmental factors. The result is a customized Supplier Code of Conduct Program with specific, realistic goals for suppliers in China.
• Training: Scandic Sourcing also trains the client’s purchasing and supply chain teams to make sure they are engaged and aligned with the process.

Picture: Stakeholder survey and materiality analysis result in a key audit areas framework

Program Management:

• Ongoing Reporting: The program provides periodic, detailed reports over a defined time frame, tracking the status of suppliers and any Code of Conduct work. Scandic Sourcing manages collected data, planning audits, preparing reports (quarterly or annually), and offering access to a real-time data Dashboard for easy tracking of supplier performance.

Code of Conduct Audits:

• Field Audits: Scandic Sourcing’s team of engineers and specialists will conduct scheduled field audits at your supplier’s facilities. After each audit, a thorough review ensures fairness and consistency, followed by a detailed report outlining findings, including a punch list of areas the supplier needs to address.

Picture: Audit results are visualized to identify gaps and communicate progress.

Continuous Improvement and Feedback:

The Scandic Supplier Code of Conduct Program is designed to be a continuous improvement process. Regular audits allow you to assess individual and systematic weaknesses in your supplier pool, set new targets, and decide on improvement strategies or supplier pruning programs. The data generated from these audits also integrates seamlessly into your annual sustainability report, offering transparent, verified insights for stakeholders.

For more information or to set up a consultation on how Scandic Sourcing can help your company with Supplier Code of Conduct audits in China, contact sourcing@scandicsourcing.com

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