The Norwegian transparency act
Due diligence concerning human rights and decent working conditions.
West-Norway AS are committed to carry out due diligence concerning fundamental human rights and decent working conditions throughout the supply chains.
The Norwegian Transparency Act is based on OECD guidelines. These guidelines outline the measures which West-Norway AS will enact to identify and assess adverse impacts, prevent, and mitigate such impacts, track improvements, and communicate any findings and results. The guidelines are a part of West-Norway AS’ efforts to embed responsible business conduct into policies and management systems.
West-Norway AS shall carry out due diligence regularly and proportionately to the size of West-Norway AS’ business, the nature of the businesses, the context of the operations, and the severity and probability of adverse impacts on fundamental human rights and decent working conditions.
Figure: OECD
West-Norway AS conducts its business within production and import/export of fish, fish products and other foodstuffs. The head office is located in Ålesund and the company has a branch office and subsidiary in Qingdao, China. West-Norway AS is a subsidiary of the Jangaard Export AS group. In 2022, we had more than approx. 120 small and large suppliers within fisheries and food production, technology, transport, and logistics, etc. Most of our suppliers have their operations in Norway and China.
West-Norway AS has, during 2022, mapped the company's business areas and types of business relationships. The overview is based on the company’s organization chart and includes all suppliers and other business partners. We have obtained information to understand the high-level risks of adverse impacts, which are linked to industry, geography, or business-specific risk factors for our suppliers. Based on the information gathered in the initial scoping-phase, we have identified and classified the most significant risks and prioritize these as the starting point of more in-depth assessments, using a traffic light assessment.
Red signifies significant risk factors based on known information about the conditions in the country, sector, or supplier.
Orange signifies moderate risk based on known information about the conditions in the country, sector, or supplier, or significant to moderate risk due to lack of information.
Green signifies little to no risk based on known information about the conditions in the country, sector, or supplier.
Based on the results of the risk analysis, West-Norway AS has prioritized carrying out a thorough due diligence assessment of our largest suppliers with the highest risk. The review has not revealed any adverse impacts for 2022. The result of the overall analysis will be reviewed regularly, and updated when new information makes this necessary. West-Norway AS will continue to carry out due diligence assessments of our suppliers and will in the next phase also consider suppliers with a lower risk.
West-Norway AS shall communicate external relevant information on due diligence policies, processes, activities conducted to identify and address actual or potential adverse impacts, including the findings and outcomes of those activities.
An account of due diligence shall be updated and published no later than 30 June of each year.