This statement is made under section 54(1) of The Modern Slavery Act 2015 and institutes JBS Global (UK) Ltd. slavery and human trafficking statement for the financial year ending 31st December 2019. It sets out the steps that we have taken and are continuing to take to ensure that modern slavery or human trafficking is not taking place within our business or supply chain.
Modern Slavery encompasses slavery, servitude, human trafficking and forced labour. JBS Global (UK) Ltd has a zero tolerance approach to any form of modern slavery. We are committed to acting ethically and with integrity and transparency in all business dealings and to putting effective system and controls in place to safeguard against any form of modern slavery taking place within the business or our supply chain.
Our Business
JBS Global (UK) Ltd is an importer and wholesaler of meat and meat products based in the UK. We trade in a variety of fresh, frozen and canned meat products to a wide customer base in the UK and continental Europe. Our products are mainly sourced from Australia, New Zealand, The USA, North and South America, and are imported through UK and other mainland European ports of entry. Products are normally transported in containers on seagoing vessels.
Due Diligence and Risk Assessment
We recognise that due to the worldwide nature of our business there will be some higher risk areas within our supply chain from where we procure our products, particularly where the operations and management are out of our direct control. To mitigate the risks, we have built close, longstanding trading partnerships with our main suppliers, providing integrity and security in the supply of our products. The majority of our suppliers are entities of the JBS SA Group, which further strengthens the relationships and trust we have in our supply chain. JBS Global (UK) Ltd is a member of SEDEX, a global data platform checking ethical, environmental and social practices in our business.
Zero Tolerance in the Supply Chain
We have a zero tolerance approach to slavery and human trafficking. We work with key stakeholders and NGO’s who have specific expertise in the issues surrounding Modern Slavery to raise awareness of the Modern Slavery Act and have encouraged our supply partners to develop systems which would enable them to highlight areas of their supply chain which are most at risk of Modern Slavery.
In our Modern Slavery Statement of 2018, we outlined that during 2019 one of our major suppliers would complete the second stage of a ground-breaking risk assessment project based on multi-factorial information. We are pleased to confirm that this work has been successfully completed which will enable the company to map areas of high risk of modern slavery incidents and use the data to assist on the implementation of due diligence for thousands of cattle suppliers.
Training
JBS Global (UK) Ltd has created a Strategic Working Group to identify and mitigate the risks of modern slavery within our business and the supply chain.
All of our employees have received Modern Slavery Awareness Training to ensure that they are qualified to understand the risks of modern slavery and human trafficking and the importance of ethical trading so that it remains at the forefront of their mind when carrying out business activities.
All new employees receive Modern Slavery Awareness Training as part of their induction program.
Our Performance
In continuance of our aim to mitigate and monitor the potential risks within our supply chains the company is pleased with the work it has carried out in 2019 in the areas of:
- Working collaboratively with Brazilians NGO’s by sharing information of high risk areas and data.
- Strengthening the relationship with suppliers in the context highlighting the issue of Modern Slavery.
- Providing Modern Slavery Training for all current staff and adding this into our induction program for new employees.
- Created the Strategic Working Group to tackle modern slavery to identify and mitigate the risks of modern slavery within our business and the supply chain.
In future Modern Slavery Statements we will continue to report on all areas of progress, which includes the following projects for 2020:
- Continue work across our protein supply base to identify and assess potential risks in the supply chain and monitor compliance.
- Complete a Modern Slavery risk assessment within 3rd party transport and storage providers.
- Ongoing partnerships with Stronger Together to ensure thorough due diligence of farm level systems with our key supplier in Brazil and starting the second phase pilot auditing high risk areas farms.
This statement was approved by JBS Global (UK) board directors and will be reviewed annually.
Nicholas Sherwood Managing Director