Automobile being discussed or referred to - Volkswagen reveals human rights report, mentioning two offenses.
Volkswagen Group, in its first annual report under the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act, has discovered two breaches of human rights. These violations include one case of forced labor. The information was disclosed in a report released on Friday. The company is generally depicted as a positive example, as these were the only transgressions detected during the evaluation of over 60,000 suppliers in 90 countries.
The most severe incident involved a subcontractor, or a supplier of a supplier. In this instance, issues of withheld wages, forced labor, and disregard for occupational safety were observed, according to the report. Volkswagen promptly addressed the problem. The company declined to provide additional details when asked. In the second case, the concern was regarding the usage of prohibited chemicals in cleaning agents. Volkswagen responded immediately as well.
"Volkswagen openly displays areas where improvements are necessary and specific actions are being taken at these locations," remarked the human rights representative of the group, Kerstin Waltenberg. "We don't just limit ourselves to analysis, but have already taken preliminary steps to address the risks."
Xinjiang not mentioned in the report
Volkswagen claims that the disputed plant and test track in the Chinese province of Xinjiang are not addressed by the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act: Both are not operated by Volkswagen itself, but by a joint venture with the Chinese manufacturer SAIC. Also, they do not provide anything to other group firms. "It's not that we're concealing the plant because the law doesn't apply to us," Waltenberg confirmed in November.
The plant and test track, which opened in 2013 in the province, are under scrutiny for their alleged connection to human rights abuses in Xinjiang. Volkswagen has been in discussions with their Chinese partner about the plant's future since February. Uighurs, members of other minorities, and human rights organizations have claimed for years that hundreds of thousands of people are being detained in re-education camps, tortured, and forced into labor in Xinjiang. The Chinese government denies these allegations.
The Supply Chain Due Diligence Act in Germany was enacted in 2023. Large companies are required to ensure adherence to human rights throughout the entire production process and report annually on this. The threshold required for the law to apply was lowered from 3,000 to 1,000 employees in 2024. The EU also passed a supply chain law this year.
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- Despite the breaches, Volkswagen Group in Lower Saxony, Germany, is recognized as a positive example due to only discovering two human rights violations among its 60,000 suppliers across 90 countries.
- The first human rights violation uncovered by Volkswagen involved a subcontractor in Xinjiang, China, where issues of withheld wages, forced labor, and disregard for occupational safety were observed.
- In response to the human rights concerns, Volkswagen, a prominent car manufacturer with a plant in Lower Saxony, has taken immediate action to address these issues in its supply chain, as required by the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act in Germany.
- Volkswagen's annual report reveals no connection between its operations in Xinjiang and the alleged human rights abuses, as the plant and test track are managed by a joint venture with the Chinese manufacturer SAIC and do not contribute to other group firms.
- The Supply Chain Due Diligence Act, enacted in 2023 in Germany, requires large companies like VW to ensure adherence to human rights throughout their supply chain and report annually on their progress, encouraging transparency and accountability in the industry.
