The Tchibo Social and Environmental Monitoring Programme
Supplier Manual for Non Food Business Partners 3.00e
3. The Audit Process
The implementation of the Tchibo SCoC is regularly reviewed in audits. An audit usually lasts
a day and is conducted by up to 2 persons. Generally, these audits are announced with a
two weeks timeframe. We reserve the right however to conduct unannounced audits at any
time. There are two types of audits:
? Factory Audits: Social and Environmental Aspects are an integral part of our Factory
Audits. These are coordinated and conducted by employees working for Tchibo
GmbH in Hamburg (mostly for factories in Africa, Europe and the Middle East) and
Tchibo Merchandising Hong Kong (mostly for factories in Asia). In Factory Audits, the
auditors primary check quality standards and the manufacturing capacity of the
factory. Social and Environmental Aspects are also audited and separately graded
with either “Suitable”, “Suitable with Follow-up necessary” or “Not suitable”.
? External Risk and Compliance Audits: These audits focus on Social and
Environmental Aspects. The Risk Audit covers the most important issues; the
Compliance Audit is greater in scope and covers a wider range of compliance issues.
Both audits are conducted by external, independent auditing firms such as UL
Responsible Sourcing, a company accredited by the nongovernmental organization
Social Accountability International (SAI). Social and Environmental Aspects will be
graded separately with either “Suitable”, “Suitable with Follow-up necessary” or “Not
suitable”.
An audit consists of various components:
- Opening meet with the management
- An inspection of the production site
- A review of the documents
- Interviews with employees: Employee interviews are conducted separately and
without presence of the management. The auditors will select the participants for
these interviews.
- Final meeting in which the identified concerns are discussed, as well as the
measures necessary for correcting them
In preparation for the audit, all relevant documents should be made available, e.g. personnel
files, payrolls and time records. A detailed list of all the important documents can be found in
the appendix 7.2. Please find a self-assessment questionnaire in attachment 7.6 that will
help you evaluate your potential compliance status in relation to the Tchibo Social and
Environmental Code of Conduct and international labour standards.
An order can only be placed at vendors/manufacturers with the audit result “Suitable” or
“Suitable with Follow-up necessary”.; Zero Tolerance concerns, which lead to the overall
result “Not suitable”, will need to be remediated before placing an order at the manufacturer.
Business is discontinued with vendors/manufacturers that refuse an audit, repeatedly reach
“Zero Tolerance” violations or do not cooperate sufficiently in the improvement process. The
same applies for attempts at bribery or fraud. These acts are not tolerated by Tchibo and
may lead to the termination of the business relationship.
If the vendor/manufacturer refuses to permit the audit, he has to bear the costs for the
rescheduled audit. Long-term refusal or delay of the process will lead to blacklisting for
further Tchibo orders.