California Transparency in Supply Chains Act
The California Transparency in Supply Chains Act of 2010 (SB 657) requires retailers like ALDI to disclose measures used to track possible slavery and human trafficking in their supply chains. Disclosure efforts include five areas: verification, audits, certification, internal accountability, and training.
Certification Requirements
As part of our Master Purchase Agreement, all ALDI direct suppliers agree to comply with the ALDI Corporate Responsibility Principles. As stated in the Principles, which includes the ALDI Social Standards in Production, we expect our business partners throughout the supply chain to be in full compliance with all applicable national laws and regulations, industry minimum standards, ILO and UN Conventions where they are consistent with national law, and/or any other relevant statutory requirements.
Specifically, the ALDI Supplier Standards states that we “do not tolerate any form of servitude, forced, bonded, indentured, trafficked or non-voluntary labor. All disciplinary procedures must be in compliance with local laws, be established in writing, and must be explained verbally to workers in clear and understandable terms.” These standards reflect our minimum requirements, which we strive to exceed wherever possible.
Auditing
Our Social Monitoring Program is designed to monitor compliance with the ALDI Social Standards in Production. ALDI requires production facilities in high-risk countries to be audited by a third-party auditor to evaluate their social compliance. The ALDI standard for monitoring includes semi-announced audits, and where appropriate or feasible, unannounced audits may be commissioned.
Verification
Our standards specify that “we expect our business partners to act with due diligence and develop the necessary management systems, policies and processes to a reasonable extent as well as effectively prevent and address any human rights impacts that may be detected in the supply chain.”
ALDI Sustainability Assessments (ASA) may be conducted to verify the information received in supplier discussions and third-party audit reports, including risks of human trafficking and slavery. The purpose of the ASA is to evaluate the effectiveness of suppliers' monitoring systems based on the social compliance performance of its production facilities.
Procurement Training
Relevant ALDI employees and managers are trained on company policies and procedures regarding social compliance and mitigating risks within supply chains. We’ve also developed the ALDI Code of Conduct, which is a reference guide and can help us gain a further understanding of our responsibilities as employees to ensure we are always doing the right thing.
Internal Accountability
We hold our employees and contractors accountable. If we find violations to our policies regarding human trafficking and slavery, we will take reasonable and necessary measures within the limits of the law to address the situation in an appropriate manner. We also have a toll-free number, which is managed by a third-party company, for our employees, business partners and suppliers to confidentially report any concerns.
See also CA Chemical Disclosure