Social responsibility

Ethics

The Varner Group is aware of its social responsibility. Our company’s goal is to combine healthy business operations with ethical conduct. We therefore work actively with issues pertaining to ethics, the environment and social responsibility, both internally and externally.

The challenges in the textile industry are many and complex, and predominantly related to the chain of production. The Varner Group does not own any factories, but purchases products from approximately 400 suppliers, primarily in Asia and Turkey. It is important that the clothes are manufactured in line with ethical and social standards. Manufacturers are therefore continuously monitored and controlled. Since 2005 the group has an operative system for monitoring working conditions in the factories. Inspections are carried out by an international quality control and certification company, contributing to forming the basis for important improvement measures at the production sites. The objective is to create a good working environment and good working conditions for the employees through dialogue and collaboration with suppliers.

Varner-Gruppen is a member of the Ethical Trading Initiative Norway (IEH – http://www.etiskhandel.no/), Business for Social Responsilibilty (BSR – http://www.bsr.org/) and takes part in the environmental programme Tekstilpanelet (The textile panel). This is a network of interested parties in the textile industry who want to reduce the health and environmental impact from the production of clothes and textiles.

Social and environmental work is an ongoing process where all parties, from the employee to the customer, suppliers and public authorities, are dependent upon mutual cooperation to create sustainable development. Varner-Gruppen has a goal of ongoing improvement in this context.

The Varner Code of Conduct, our ethical guidelines

The Varner Group has common ethical guidelines, a Code of Conduct, for all its chains. These have been developed in collaboration with the Ethical Trading Initiative Norway (IEH), and are based on international conventions. The guidelines impose requirements on the group and suppliers by focusing on respect for laws and regulations, anti-discrimination, forced or child-labour, the right to trade organization and collective wage negotiations, and proper wages and working conditions.　　

Download our Code of Conduct (pdf)

Environmental responsibility

Environmental considerations constitute an important part of The Varner Groups social responsibility. The group imposes extensive requirements on its suppliers with regard to use of chemicals in the manufacture of clothing. The group also employs transport partners with an explicit environmental policy. In the stores, packaging is recycled and no rain forest timber or other wood-types from trees in danger of extinction are used in the store interiors. The Varner Groups objective is continuous improvement of its own environmental standards and streamlining in the implementation of these.

Download our Chemical Requirements (pdf)

Social commitment

Contributing to positive social development by collaborating with various charity organizations is important to us. Through our different chains, we have established long-term partnerships with Unicef, Save the Children and Plan Norway.
　

Reporting to ETI-Norway

ETI-Norway is a member based resource centre and an advocate for ethical trade practices. Its objective is to enable its member to overcome challenges linked to decent work and environmental conditions in global supply chains, and to strengthen support for ethical trade.

The Varner Group has been member of ETI-Norway since 2003. As member we report every year to the organisation on our ethical trade progress. The report builds on key indicators for measuring improvements in the supply chain over time and is publically available. If you wish to receive our latest report, please contact the CSR Department. The report can also be ordered in Norwegian from IEH's homepage.