Unilever 2013 Annual Report Download - page 60

The Commttee mantans close scrutny of the mechansms for
complance wth the ode and ode Polces as ongong
complance s essental to promote and protect Unlever’s values
and standards, and hence the good reputaton of the Group
At each meetng the ommttee revews the completon of
nvestgatons nto non-complance wth the ode and ode
Polces and progress on tranng programmes as well as any
trends whch may emerge from reports of ode non-complance
Followng a benchmarkng exercse on codes of conduct, the
ommttee was pleased to note that whle Unlever compares well
wth others, t seeks contnuous mprovement and work s
ongong to enhance complance wth ode processes
In July, supplers’ and dstrbutors’ complance wth ode polces
was also studed by the ommttee The Commttee noted that
thrd partes’ complance s essental for the protecton of the
reputaton of Unlever and ts brands and has set ths as a prorty
for 2014
LITIATION REVIEW
The Chef Legal Offcer reports to the ommttee on ltgaton and
regulatory matters whch may have a reputatonal mpact
ncludng envronmental ssues, brbery and corrupton
complance and competton law complance For further
nformaton on ‘legal proceedngs’ please see note 20 on page 131
SAFETY
The Commttee receves an analyss of occupatonal safety and
product safety and qualty at each meetng Occupatonal safety
contnues to be a top prorty for Unlever, partcularly road safety
where Unlever s sharng best practces and learnng from a
number of FTSE 100 companes The Commttee also dscussed
Unlever’s polces and processes for product safety, ncludng
ncdent management, and noted that Unlever adopts a
systematc approach that focuses on preventon
UNILEVER SUSTAINABLE LIVIN PLAN
The USLP s at the heart of Unlever’s vson to double the sze of
ts busness whle reducng ts envronmental footprnt and
ncreasng ts postve socal mpact By makng sustanablty
ntegral to how Unlever does busness, the USLP provdes the
dfferentator n Unlever’s busness model ven ts strategc
mportance, the ommttee montors progress on the USLP and
revews any potental rsks that could affect Unlever’s reputaton
Durng the year the ommttee transtoned ts responsblty for
overseeng the ndependent assurance work that s performed on
a number of our USLP metrcs (selected on the bass of ther
materalty to the USLP) to the Audt ommttee Ths allows the
ommttee to place more focus on the USLP’s wder socal,
economc and envronmental mpacts In September, the two
ommttees came together for a detaled brefng on the USLP’s
targets and metrcs as well as the prorty ssues Unlever was
addressng n 2013
One of the ommttee’s prortes n 2014 s to ensure that delvery
of the USLP s mantaned through approprate busness strateges
In the three years snce ts launch at the end of 2010, much has
been learned n drvng the mplementaton of the USLP across the
organsaton and externally through ts value chan from supplers
to consumers Unlever s revewng ts strategy and approach to
focus ts attenton on the areas that matter most to the busness
and where ts contrbuton can acheve the greatest mpact n
socety Ths ncludes the extenson of the Enhancng Lvelhoods
pllar of the USLP1, where Unlever has ganed nsghts nto the
mpacts of ts extended value chan from workng wth NO
partners such as Oxfam The ommttee revewed the fndngs
from Oxfam’s study of Unlever n Vetnam2 and welcomed the
polces and processes beng developed by Unlever
FURTHER ITEMS
A number of other prorty topcs were consdered durng the year
These ncluded topcs such as obesty, progress on alternatves to
anmal testng, consumer confdence n the use of chemcals and
responsble mnerals procurement, as well as the processes n
place for managng ssues such as these
EVALUATION OF THE ORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY
OMMITTEE
The Boards evaluated the performance of the ommttee and the
ommttee carred out a self-assessment of ts performance, and
each has concluded that the ommttee s performng effectvely
Louse Fresco
harman of the orporate Responsblty ommttee
harles olden
Laura ha
1 Further detals can be found n Unlever’s onlne Sustanable Lvng Report
2013, publshed n Aprl 2014
2 See Labour Rghts n Unlever’s Supply han from omplance towards
ood Practce at http//wwwunlevercom/sustanable-lvng/news/news/
February-2013-Unlever-puts-spotlght-on-human-and-labour-rghtsaspx
57Unlever Annual Report and Accounts 2013 overnance