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Ikea Gives Suppliers Two Years To Shape Up
¡¾2002.07.16¡¿

Ikea Gives Suppliers Two Years To Shape Up

Global retail furniture giant Ikea of Sweden has put its 2000 international suppliers on notice that if they fail to meet new minimum standards on environmental and social issues, they will be dumped. Mobel fertigung magazine from Germany says the hard-line approach is driven by European customers wanting to know if there are any ecological downsides to the goods they buy, and Americans concerned about the working conditions of those who make the products. Ikea spends around 3.5 billion euros annually buying goods manufactured under contract ¨C much of it from Asia and Eastern Europe. By August it will have audited 1000 suppliers ¨C checking for the use of child or forced labour, anti-union activities and illegally harvested wood, among other things. Any supplier that fails to meet the company¡¯s standards within two years will lose the business. The company uses in-market buyers, specially trained factory inspectors and business auditors to enforce its minimum standards.

Source: Forestry Press.