ICA is aiming for 100% of suppliers of ICA private label products in high-risk countries to be socially audited. Key indicators associated with this are continually monitored by ICA’s management teams and form part of ICA Gruppen’s comprehensive risk analysis. 

ICA has produced its own tool for social auditing of suppliers: the ICA Social Audit. The requirements are based on similar criteria to the Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI). The combination of ICA Social Audits, completed by our own employees or consultants, and third-party audits such as BSCI, ETI and SA8000 has successfully sped up the often time-consuming process of obtaining social audits. The ICA Social Audit helps suppliers to improve working conditions in production more quickly.

ICA Global Sourcing – ICA’s extended arm in Asia

ICA Gruppen through our subsidiaries and portfolio companies cooperates with several suppliers and factories in Asia, primarily in China. Most of them produce items for ICA’s non-food range. In order to ensure quality and get closer to our suppliers in China and other parts of Asia, ICA has its own purchasing offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Vietnam and Bangladesh. These operations are called ICA Global Sourcing and have almost 100 employees. The head office is in Hong Kong. The offices in Asia have buyers and specialists within quality and social responsibility. Thanks to their work, ICA gains greater insight into our suppliers’ operations, which in turn leads to increased dialogue and understanding between us and them.

When auditing a supplier in Asia, the inspectors examine, among other things, employee health and safety, the factory’s management routines, wages and overtime hours.

ICA Gruppen’s subsidiaries and portfolio companies have a total of approximately 550 suppliers and factories in China. About 50 of these supply food while the remainder deliver to ICA’s non-food range.

ICA Global Sourcing is located in:

• Hong Kong
• Shanghai, China
• Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
• Dhaka, Bangladesh

 
Together the employees within ICA Global Sourcing operate in China, Taiwan, India, Pakistan, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia and Bangladesh.

Action plan for non-compliance

If ICA’s own auditors or third-party auditors detect non-compliances at a production facility used by the company, a concrete action plan is established and followed up in a re-audit. The first time a supplier violates the contractual requirements, they generally get a second chance to correct the problem. If they do so to our satisfaction, ICA will keep working with them. If a serious offence is repeated, the cooperation with the supplier will be terminated.

The most common shortcomings are identified in the following areas:

• health and safety
• management routines
• overtime working
• employees’ freedom to join trade unions
• wage levels

Combating child labour

ICA’s basic rule when it comes to child labour is that individuals younger than 15 may not work for any of the company’s suppliers. If national laws have stricter limits, these apply. In China, for example, the statutory working age is 16. ICA also requires its suppliers to give special consideration to young workers (younger than 18) in matters such as the right to limited working hours.

If ICA detects or suspects that a worker is not of legal age, ICA’s contract with the supplier obliges the supplier to take measures to protect the best interests of that person. Together with the supplier, the company tries to find the best possible solution in light of the child’s age, education and social situation.

For a couple of years ICA’s sourcing office in Hong Kong has worked in partnership with the Centre for Child Rights and Corporate Social Responsibility (CCR CSR) in China, an organisation started by the Swedish branch of Save the Children. ICA gets access to expertise from CCR CSR and comes into contact with buyers from other companies that it can share experiences with.

To promote the protection of the rights of children and young people in the world of work, the pilot project Prevention and Intervention Services for the Protection of Young Workers in Chinese Supply Factories (PISP) was established jointly by ICA’s sourcing offices in Asia and seven other international brands. The project was successfully introduced in 2011 and 2012, mainly in nine factories producing clothes, stationery, toiletries and tools. It has included training for personal development, including commmunication skills and general career planning.

Since November 2012 ICA has taken part in a series of workshops on the rights of the child organised by Swedish UNICEF. The aim is that the participating Swedish companies – all of which have global links and were specially invited by UNICEF – can spur each other on and develop new methods of preventing child labour and safeguarding children’s rights in society.

Reviewing the conditions for berry pickers

For a number of years ICA has reviewed the conditions for organised berry pickers in Swedish forests. An independent party is enlisted to carry out the actual review work. Among the aspects checked are whether the berry pickers are given accurate information by their employer before coming to Sweden, whether the contracts are clear and easy to understand, whether the accommodation is acceptable and whether working hours are documented. These reviews show that a number of improvements have been made. For example, there is now a clear handbook for berry pickers containing rules and important information about working in forests and on the land.

ICA has been driving the issue of acceptable conditions for berry pickers in Swedish forests for a number of years. Now the method developed by ICA has become the industry model in a new agreement between the Swedish Food Federation (Livsmedelsföretagen), the Swedish Grocery Trade Federation (Svensk Dagligvaruhandel) and the Swedish Trade Federation (Svensk Handel). The agreement requires buyers of berries to take responsibility for the performance of independent social audits of organised berry picking and for controls within independent berry picking. Non-profit research organisation Swedwatch also released a report on Swedish berry picking in which ICA was praised for its work in this area, and other companies are being urged to follow ICA’s example.

ICA has also hosted and convened a number of dialogues between parties involved in the trade. The aim is to extend cooperation with others in the industry to improve conditions for organised as well as independent pickers.