Company profile: INNO
Headquarters: Brussel
Country: Belgium flemish
Founded in: 1897
Total points of sale in Europe: 15 Belgium
Owned by: Metro Group
Name of CEO: Dr. Hans Joachim Körber
Product description: n.a.
Countries of production: n.a.
General remark: INNO is part of the Metro Group. During the meeting CCC insisted on clearly distinguishing information about INNO and Metro. The answers however refer mainly to Metro policies and practices.
INNO nv
Dirk Jacobs
Nieuwstraat, 111 1000 Brussel
info(at)inno.be
Comments CCC and proposals for action
INNO is part of the German Metro group. During a meeting INNO explained the structure of the supply chain. CCC encouraged them when to make a clear distinction between INNO’s own CSR policy and practices and the those of the Metro group. When answering the questionnaire however most of the time reference is made to the group which makes it hard to make a proper evaluation of their own policy and practices.
The following evaluation of the company’s performance in terms of transparency, code implementation and monitoring of labour standards is based on the company’s response to the questionnaire from the CCC and on an additional desk study conducted by the CCC in 2007. In the section “Recent developments” you can find additional information gathered after 2007.
Transparency
INNO nv has responded to the CCC-questionnaire and has provided some additional documents. The company is in dialogue with some NGOs and/or trade unions. Some information is disclosed about turnover and profits. The salary of the CEO is known. The information given about producer countries and the structure of the supply chain is not comprehensive. A sustainability report is publicly available but it does not meet international reporting standards (GRI). INNO nv provides neither the results of factory audits nor information about verification activities.
Formal commitment to labour standards
The code of conduct does not include all provisions from the ILO Core Conventions.*
Code implementation and purchasing practices
INNO nv did not indicate the steps it is taking to effectively implement minimum labour standards in its supply chain. The code of conduct is translated into most of the languages of the countries the company is sourcing from. There is no evidence that training on labour rights issues is promoted by INNO nv. According to the information given INNO nv has no intention to implement the payment of living wages to workers. According to the information available, some of the production sites are in countries or zones where freedom of association is not guaranteed by law. INNO nv takes, to some extent, the impact of its own purchasing practices into account. It has established some procedures which show how to improve planning and prevent excessive overtime.
Monitoring and Verification
As a member of a monitoring project BSCI, the mother company has audited 338 audited suppliers during 2005 and 2007 suppliers within one year. The company is not involved in independent verification by a multi-stakeholder approach. The monitoring and/or verification process includes consultation of local stakeholders.
Violations of labour rights and public conflicts
There was a public urgent appeal from CCC regarding SAS Fashion Wear Bangladesh calling on Inno – Metro to take responsibility for workers’ rights violations in its supply chain. After being informed about the violation, the company reacted to the CCC or the reporting organisation as follows: “The Metro group did not put orders there but a supplier might. So, the siituation is unclear and we have requested clarification from German wholesaler.”
Recent developments
n.a.