Under the button: Our Procedures:

Lovering Foods is a SEDEX member and uses the SEDEX Advance platform to gain visibility of working conditions at processing sites. Currently, more than 75% of our suppliers are registered. Upon registration, a desktop audit called a ‘Self - Assessment Questionnaire’ (SAQ) is completed by the supplier. We then use customer specifications and risk assessment procedures to determine whether an on-site ethical audit is required. Sites identified as medium or high risk are required to conduct a SEDEX Members Ethical Trade Audit (SMETA) from a certified auditing body at a frequency determined by our customers, and, if necessary, will be given corrective measures to apply within a set timeframe. Our dedicated Technical team ensures all products undergo a rigorous approval procedure before reaching our customers. This includes a variety of quality, food safety, and traceability verifications.

Collaboration:

To confront the issues facing our industry, we work closely with our suppliers and customers, partner with a number of external organisations, and use our variety of third-party connections to continuously develop, evaluate, and improve our internal policies and procedures. Last year, we became an active member of theSustainable Seafood Coalition(SSC), contributing to the establishment of UK-wide standards on seafood labelling, risk assessment, and fishery improvement efforts. We are also a Participating Company of theInternational Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF), an interdisciplinary organisation working to improve sustainability and traceability in the tuna industry. Further, as active members ofSEDEX, we track suppliers’ progress towards an independently verified ethical standard underpinned by theETI Base Code

Our collaboration extends further through participation in conversations organised by groups such as the ISSF and SSC on the development and application of external risk assessment tools, such as the SeafishRisk Assessment for Sourcing Seafood (RASS)tool, and the inclusion of social criteria into the SSC’s Code of Conduct.

In development:

Formalise and strengthen Loverings' private label risk assessment procedure and ethical sourcing policy;

Ensure that all suppliers are SEDEX members, have a completed SAQ, and have conducted ethical audits as necessary according to their risk assessment outcome;

Conduct ethical risk assessments on all Kingfisher and Royal Line supply chains, and own-label supply chains where a retailers own policy is not available;

Continue to expand our third-party engagement.

Become an active member of the Sustainable Seafood Coalition (SSC), and thus contribute to the establishment of UK-wide standards on seafood labelling, risk assessment, and fishery improvement efforts;

Participate in conversations organised by groups such as the ISSF and SSC on the development and application of external risk assessment tools, such as the Seafish Risk Assessment for Sourcing Seafood (RASS);

Participate in discussions with suppliers, industry associations, and environmental groups on how to improve on-board monitoring on the wide range of fishing vessels we source from;

Further collaborate with customers and other suppliers to share best practice and find more practical and effective ways of mitigating risk in the supply chain.

SYDELLE DINIZ.....2017-10-17 18:21:45 UTC

Software:

"(...) as active members of SEDEX, we track suppliers’ progress towards an independently verified ethical standard underpinned by the ETI Base Code." p.2

While a self-assessment questionnaire is also mentioned, this is part of the SEDEX software so does not count as an additional mechanism.

In Development:

"We are informally leading a UK Alaskan Salmon ethics working group to further understand the challenges faced for UK customers sourcing Alaskan Salmon, and the lack of ethical documentation available. The group aims to collect data on the industry and processors to inform retailers’ risk assessment processes to ensure ethical standards are maintained. Furthermore, we are considering tools beyond ethical audits to understand conditions within our supply chain and investigating worker voice gathering tools. We are investigating projects to further understand our supply chain, through worker voice technology and vessel tracking." p. 2

No evidence of any desk research.