The Due Diligence Act - REWE Group
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Our position Published: 25 November 2020
The Due Diligence Act
Background
The coalition agreement of 2018 set out a fundamental review of the National Ac-
tion Plan for Business and Human Rights (NAP). If the enquiry revealed that compa-
nies had insufficient voluntary due diligence procedures, the German Federal Gov-
ernment would act at a national level and support EU-wide regulation. The target
set by the Federal Government was not met, leading to discussions over recent
months as to the form and implementation of a Due Diligence Act.
1Our approach
As a global player, the REWE Group sources a wide range of products through inter-
national supply chains on a daily basis. These include Brazilian orange juice, Ghana-
ian cocoa beans and Asian textiles. The REWE Group has been committed to improv-
ing human rights, preventing child and forced labour and promoting fair trade for
many years, particularly at the resource production and processing stages of the sup-
ply chain. We aim to improve supply chains through collective stakeholder initiatives
and multi-stakeholder alliances.
We therefore made the following statement in December 2019: Human rights are
non-negotiable. We firmly believe that a binding framework is required to provide
for fair conditions throughout global supply chains. For that reason, we are in favour
of mandatory international supply chain regulations. In our view, supply chain laws
on the purely national level are not sufficient to effectively improve standards of due
diligence throughout global supply chains. We would like to see a mandatory inter-
national solution that involves all stakeholders and creates a level playing field. Euro-
pean legislation would harmonise corporate due diligence standards and create legal
certainty for international companies. Regulation should focus on human rights is-
sues as set out in the UN Guiding Principles. We believe that politicians and business
should ideally enter into dialogue and carry out feasibility testing. Our common goal
must be to invest in what will have the greatest impact on improving human rights
rather than creating an excessive administrative burden. We have gained a wealth of
ideas for improving human rights in supply chains from many years of experience.
We advocate appropriate limitations of liability which should apply to direct suppli-
ers only. We have no contractual power over upstream suppliers and can therefore
only be liable for our direct contractual partners. This is standard practice in food
legislation and should also apply here. In our view, regulation must not relieve manu-
facturers of all responsibility and simply transfer it to the retailers. The retail food
sector must not be required to assume liability for the entire food industry.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for 90 percent of suppliers to
the retail grocery industry. They supply around half of all products on store shelves.
These SMEs will be excluded if only suppliers with more than 5,000 employees can
be held to account. This could prove to be a drawback for SMEs: If the retailers are
held liable for the goods from smaller suppliers, then large international suppliers
might be preferred due to the greater legal certainty they provide to retailers. This
would go against consumer demand for local produce and would run contrary to our
strategy of promoting regional development and offering variety. We therefore call
for a threshold of 500 employees.
2Moreover,zu
Was aus unserer Sicht fromtun
our experience
ist on many projects in third countries, we
know that the European authorities’ policy dialogue (EU and member
states) with the local governments is crucially important. Recognition of ex-
▪ Wir unterstützen einen gesetzlichen Rahmen, der das Tierwohl der männlichen
isting
Küken fördert und das measures consistent
Kükentöten verbietet. with an obligation to endeavour should also be
guaranteed. We also support the development of the OECD contact points
▪ as external,nach
Die Geschlechtsbestimmung independent, trusted institutions
dem 7. Bebrütungstag muss giving third-country
weiterhin erlaubtstake-
holders
sein, damit es zu keiner access to complaints
Auslagerung mechanisms.
des Kükentöten kommt.TheUm
work they do
hierbei demin third coun-
tries should be expanded and clearly communicated
Gedanken des Tierwohls auch weiterhin Rechnung zu tragen, sollte die Ge- so that requirements
schlechtsbestimmung cannach
be met:
demthey
10.should collaborategesetzlich
Bebrütungstag with local NGOs and würden.
verboten unions and qual-
ity criteria that comply with the UN guidelines must be developed. There is
little point in individual measures taken by companies in isolation.
We also call for an EU traffic-light system for third countries to allow multi-
lateral political pressure to be exerted if human rights are breached. If
third countries comply with laws and international standards and their im-
plementation is supported by government, the traffic light remains green.
If there are breaches, it initially changes to amber. International political
pressure will then be exerted. In extreme cases, the country will be listed
on the ‘red’ list and EU restrictions may follow. It would therefore be in the
interest of third countries to actively promote positive developments and
the enforcement of legislation, in order to receive a green rating. Compa-
nies would have no obligations to fulfil for the green level, limited obliga-
tions for the amber level and extensive obligations for the red level. This
could be modelled on the EU legislative framework for illegal fishing activi-
ties, which has led to significant global improvements in the fishing indus-
try.
3Our view on the appropriate way forward
▪ We call for an international solution to harmonise corporate due diligence standards and
create legal certainty for international companies.
▪ Regulation should focus on human rights issues as set out in the UN Guiding Principles.
▪ There should be appropriate limitations on liability. The retail food sector must not be
required to assume liability for the entire food industry.
▪ It should also be ensured that there is recognition for existing measures consistent with
an obligation to endeavour.
▪ We call for a traffic-light system for EU third countries along the same lines as the EU leg-
islative framework for illegal fishing activities. This should create global incentives for
governance systems to protect human rights.
Your Public Affairs contact for this topic
Kristin Hühnergarth
Senior Manager Public Affairs
+49 151 55 12 3075
4About REWE Group
The cooperatively organized REWE Group is one of the leading trade and tourism groups in Germany and Eu-
rope. In 2020, the company generated a total external turnover of around 75 billion euros. Founded in 1927,
REWE Group operates with 380,000 employees in 21 European countries.
The sales lines include REWE, REWE CENTER and BILLA as well as BILLA PLUS and ADEG supermarkets and con-
sumer stores, the discounter PENNY, the drugstores BIPA and the toom Baumarkt DIY stores. The company also
operates convenience stores REWE To Go and the e-commerce activities REWE Lieferservice and Zooroyal. The
Lekkerland Group comprises the wholesale activities of the business group in the area of on-the-go consump-
tion. Travel and tourism under the umbrella of DER Touristik Group includes the tour operators ITS, Jahn Rei-
sen, Dertour, Meiers Weltreisen, ADAC Reisen, Kuoni, Helvetic Tours, Apollo und Exim Tours and more than
2,400 travel agencies (e.g. DER Reisebüro, DERPART and cooperation partners), the hotel chains lti, Club Cali-
mera, Cooee, PrimaSol and Playitas Resort and the direct tour operator clevertours.com.
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