Supply chain
High standards of health, safety, environment (HSE)
and labor practices are a priority for Syngenta - in our own operations
and in those of our suppliers.
Suppliers must comply with all relevant laws and regulations on people, equipment and the environment, and provide documentation on this where appropriate. We are developing guidelines, to be completed in 2009, that will provide consistent HSE and ethical standards for suppliers, standardizing our existing local requirements. Building supplier relationships
CASE STUDY
Our objectives
Conduct an HSE assessment of new major chemical suppliers and periodically
re-audit existing suppliers
Our approach
We work with suppliers to ensure they meet our HSE and labor standards
through our supplier qualification procedures and audits of our major
suppliers.
| Health, safety & environment (HSE) in production and supply | 2008 |
2007 |
2006 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of HSE audits at suppliers1 | 59 |
53 |
43 |
| Audit by country/region in 2008 | ||||
|
Building supplier relationships
We conduct risk assessments of new crop protection suppliers, based on
HSE management as well as quality and continuity of supply. Suppliers
are audited based on their potential risk before qualification and regularly
afterwards.
In 2008 we carried out 59 supplier audits, and we have conducted more than 300 over the last seven years.
Audits include a preliminary self-assessment questionnaire followed by a one or two-day site visit, and inspections of relevant documentation and procedures.
We provide a detailed list of recommendations for improvement after each audit. Suppliers are required to demonstrate an action plan to implement the recommendations and complete this within an agreed timeframe. They must provide evidence of completion and may be subject to a follow-up audit. A number of suppliers in emerging markets have shown significant improvement over several years of working with Syngenta.
In India, we are working in partnership with the Fair Labor Association
to engage with seed suppliers to monitor and improve labor standards on
their farms. See
tackling child labor on seed farms.
