Our sustainability strategy is a shared vision: wherever we operate in the world, we work towards the same goals, with a shared set of values and principles that govern our actions, so our people know what is expected of them. Supported by our Board of Directors and Senior Management Team, these principles are clearly communicated throughout our business, policies and demonstrated in our practices.
We expect all employees to behave ethically and comply with our Samsonite Code of Conduct. This sets out our values and commitment to ethical standards and legal compliance.
We have a duty to respect the human rights of the people who work for us, and of the workers in our supply chain across the world. We do not tolerate illegal working conditions and human rights violations like child, forced or trafficked labor.
We provide the opportunity for everyone who works for us to report suspected breaches of the Code of Conduct via an anonymous, tollfree, confidential hotline. During 2023 we made this hotline available to third parties such as customers and suppliers.
The Samsonite Ethical Charter is our supplier code of conduct and sets out our view of acceptable business practices. All finished goods and certain raw material and component suppliers must comply with its minimum standards, and we conduct regular audits to ensure they do.
The Group seeks to ensure that all new and existing third-party finished goods and certain raw material and component suppliers abide by the Company’s policies. Supply contracts require compliance, and the Group’s social compliance audit personnel visit suppliers on a regular basis and audit their compliance. Failure to remedy violations of the policy may result in termination of the relationship with the supplier. In 2023, we audited 166 finished good factories. A further 56 factories were exempt from audit due to Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP) certification.
If a zero-tolerance violation, such as prison, child or forced labor, is uncovered through an audit, immediate action is taken. Factories must remediate all violations before existing production is resumed. Suppliers can request a Social Compliance re-audit 60 days from the date of the first incident. If a second incident is detected, factories will be barred from supplying to Samsonite.
We are committed to maintaining high standards of corporate governance and recognize that this is fundamental to the effective and transparent operation of our company. More information about our approach to governance and risk management can be found in our 2023 Annual Report, including in the Corporate Governance Report.
We have published an Environmental, Social and Governance Report since 2016 and continue to share our progress on an annual basis.
You will also find our statement on Modern Slavery Statement in this section.
