With only six months to go, is your business ready for new human rights due diligence legislation?
To be compliant with the new German Supply Chain Due Diligence Legislation, the Lieferkettengesetz (LkSG) as well as similar looming legislation on the level of the European Union, and law firm Norton Rose Fulbright have launched a new digital Lieferkettengesetz Questionnaire to help companies, which have operations in Germany, comply with new requirements and protect themselves from substantial fines.
Germany recently introduced its incoming Lieferkettengesetz legislation, due to come into force in January 2023. The act will apply to German-based businesses, as well as any company that has offices in Germany, which are staffed by more than 3,000 employees. The act will expand to all businesses with more than 1,000 employees by January 2024.
The new German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG) requirements will force companies to improve current human rights and environmental rights practices. Companies that breach the legislation can face fines of up to €8,000,000 or 2% of annual worldwide turnover for companies with more than €400m turnover. This also includes the possibility of being banned from competing for public contracts in Germany for up to three years.
Ethixbase360 has entered into an exclusive license and collaboration agreement with global top 10 law firm Norton Rose Fulbright to develop the German supply chain questionnaire for third parties. The questionnaire utalises the ethixbase 360 third-party risk assessment platform to comprehensively cover the topics addressed by German, and wider sustainability and ESG-related, legislation all in one place. The topics include impacts on human rights and the environment, health and safety issues, anti-bribery controls, compliance documentation and more.
Companies can score their suppliers on their responses to the questionnaire and evaluate their performance in relation to both previous scores, indicating progression as well as a national average performance. To avoid delays and ensure maximum coverage, the questionnaire can also be disseminated in local language to suit individual global suppliers.
Leas Bachatene, CEO at , comments: “With the cost of ignoring or not being fully aware of the risks in your supply chain being so high, we’re very pleased to launch the questionnaire to help ensure businesses are ready and compliant with the new German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act.
“Our solution is hassle-free and will provide businesses with extensive coverage throughout their global supply chains while also allowing them to demonstrate progress in this area with analytical data and powerful platform integration. The process is convenient to implement and will work seamlessly with existing third-party risk management processes.
“We can expect to continue seeing changes in legislation to reach the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations and individual nations themselves, as we aim to meet the rising bar of human rights due diligence legislation. Staying ahead of the curve when it comes to legislative developments is a difficult task, so using technology such as the Lieferkettengesetz Questionnaire can not only help businesses remain compliant and avoid fines, but proactively protect the people of our planet.”
The Lieferkettengesetz Questionnaire includes the second successive compliance questionnaire developed by Ethixbase360 and Norton Rose Fulbright, following the release of the Modern Slavery Questionnaire in November 2020.
To find out more about the Norton Rose Fulbright and Ethixbase360 Lieferkettengesetz Questionnaire and take action, visit our page
To view ’s webinar and ensure your business is compliant with the incoming Lieferkettengesetz legislation, watch our webinar: Getting Ready For 2023: Is your Business Compliant?
