On September 19th AIM-PROGRESS convened a supplier forum in Shanghai to promote responsible sourcing. The forum was sponsored by five AIM-PROGRESS members: AB-Inbev, McDonalds, Nestle, Reckitt Benckiser and Unilever and was attended by over 280 supplier representatives. The day-long event covered brands’ responsible sourcing expectations, an overview of the China legislative context, a focus on anti-bribery & corruption, and featured workshops on key labour challenges such as health and safety, contract labour management, working hours and social security.
The morning plenary kicked off with an overview of AIM-PROGRESS member responsible sourcing programs. The AB-Inbev legal team highlighted corruption as a global issue, and an obstacle to economic and social development around the world. The session also explained relevant Chinese legislation around the environment, compared it to the global context, highlighted enforcement trends and the need for collaboration and collective action.
Deep-dive interactive workshops were organised in the afternoon, covering health and safety practices within manufacturing facilities facilitated by ELEVATE, along with sessions on contract labour management, working hours and social security led by SCSA Group. These workshops were designed to help factories identify steps to ensure the rights of contract workers and to proactively monitor and control working hours. The intent is to create a culture shift from overtime being ‘normal’ to overtime being an exception.
Feedback was positive, with suppliers expressing satisfaction at learning from a collective of brands about expectations.
Presentations from the supplier event will be made available very shortly. In the meantime, if you're interested in addressing these issues, review the presentations from the event here or discover our business supplier toolkit here.
