OREANDA-NEWS. Firstly, Auchan restates firmly that it had absolutely no involvement in the Rana Plaza accident. We have never placed a single order with any company working on that production site.

- Auchan was, of course, appalled by this catastrophic accident. To the best of our knowledge, Auchan has done more to implement practical measures to improve employment conditions for workers in Bangladesh than any other French company, and has done so in accordance with the ILO recommendations:

  • Continuing our activities in Bangladesh to protect industry workers engaged in the manufacture of our products
  • Signing the Fire and Safety Building Agreement collective agreement now supported by 200 international companies, trade unions and national organisations, which is designed to monitor and improve building safety in Bangladesh
  • Donating $1.5 million to the Rana Plaza Donors Trust Fund set up to support victims of the disaster and their families
  • Launching and monitoring an 8-point plan to combat opaque subcontracting, with regular progress updates available to view online at www.groupe-auchan.com
  • Creation of the Weave Our Future Foundation dedicated to improving the living and employment conditions of workers in developing countries

- These measures represent a continuation of the policy initiated by Auchan nearly 20 years ago to work alongside its suppliers in implementing measures to ensure responsible production and respect for people. As early as 1997, Auchan adopted a code of business ethics, which took its inspiration from ILO conventions and is integral to all the contracts it signs with its business partners. This code was updated in 2014.

- The civil proceedings brought in June this year by 3 NGOs follow an initial action brought unsuccessfully in January. The Auchan response will, of course, be the same as it was in 2014: full transparency in answering all requests and questions it may receive from the justice system, and an immediate readiness to once again set out its policies in detail, together with details of the progress already made and the long-term responsible actions already implemented.