There
is no one code of conduct that is universally accepted throughout
the flower industry. There are, however, a number of social
and
environmental codes which have been set up. World Flowers has found
that there are strengths and weaknesses across all the codes and
has
therefore
opted for a multi-code approach.
As a minimum World Flowers asks all its suppliers to adopt the
ETI Base Code. Suppliers are asked to carry out a self-assessment. Based on risk a visit maybe conducted by World Flowers own staff or an independent certification bodies.
World Flowers works with individual suppliers to increase their
ethical standards even further so that they can reach the more stringent
standards of the MPS Social Chapter and the Fairtrade standards
certified by the Fairtrade Labelling Organisation.
World Flowers has also been involved with the Horticultural Ethical
Business Initiative (HEBI) – in which the ETI acted as a catalyst,
striving to develop an all-encompassing Code of Conduct that will
be acceptable to all stakeholders. World Flowers has actively participated
in HEBI discussions and meetings and two supplier farms were audited
during the pilot trials.
World Flowers became a member of the ETI in 2003 and completes an annual review of ethical performance.
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