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 2020. 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, 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. Most of these suppliers, like JBS Global (UK) Ltd, are entities of the JBS SA Group, which further strengthens the relationships and trust we have in our supply chain. JBS Global (UK) is a member of SEDEX.
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 Modern Slavery area 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.
Our Performance
Due to the global Coronavirus pandemic, there was some disruption to some of our planned activities throughout 2020. These had included visits by ourselves and NGO partners to assess supply base in Brazil. These activities will continue once international travel is safe and allowed again. Other areas of focus through 2020 were adapted to include;
- Reinforcing the relationship with our suppliers in the context of highlighting the issue of Modern Slavery.
- Strengthening the relationship with suppliers in the context highlighting the issue of Modern Slavery.
- Robust engagement with local service providers to ensure Coronavirus employee welfare and compliance was adhered to and payment support was provided to employees in line with Government advice.
- The business adopted a Covid-19 secure workplace with full support and flexibility of home working for our employees with the priority to ensure well being and safety for all, as well as job security and full payment.
In future Modern Slavery Statements we will continue to report on all areas of progress, which includes the following projects for 2021:
- Review map of all our key suppliers across our protein supply base to identify and assess actions that have been implemented during the Coronavirus pandemic to ensure employee welfare and working conditions have been prioritised.
- Complete 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 one of our key suppliers in Brazil and starting the second phase pilot auditing high risk areas farms.
- Refresh staff training on Modern Slavery company policy for any employee who last received training more than 3 years previously.
This statement was approved by JBS Global (UK) board directors and will be reviewed annually.
Nicholas Sherwood Managing Director