Workshop for ESG risk management and compliance with the requirements of ESG regulations – Textile Industry
October 18, 2023 | Belgrade
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia, with the support of the German Organization for International Cooperation GIZ, launched the Responsible Business Hub RBH customer service for all domestic companies that export to the German market or plan to do so in the future. The goal of this customer service is to provide support to companies in Serbia to understand and properly work on the implementation of the German Act on Due Diligence in Supply Chains, as well as on all other regulations in the field of the green agenda.
According to the new German law that entered into force on January 1st this year, domestic companies that are in the supply chains of German companies have the obligation of due diligence through the following activities:
- Establishing a risk management system
- Resolving internal jurisdiction in the company
- Conducting regular risk analyses
- Giving a statement of principles
- Establishing preventive measures in the sphere of own business and towards direct suppliers
- Taking corrective measures
- Documentation and reporting
In order to promote the importance of risk management and analysis in every company, we organized consulting workshops for companies from several different industries. We introduced the present companies to the principles of risk analysis, the importance of quality risk management, and the importance of appointing a responsible person within the company.
During the workshops, the participants had the opportunity to apply the learned concepts of risk management by conducting a short analysis of the company's exposure to risks in the field of environmental protection and human rights under the professional supervision of Deloitte experts.
As a result of the workshops, we received an overview of the most important risks for each of the five sectors and created a plan for further activities.
The second in a series of workshops was with companies from the textile industry sector, who shared with us what risks they see in front of them in their business activities and what are the demands placed on them by customers in the European Union. The problems that are the biggest challenge for companies from the textile industry are related to the requirements for certification and the costs of that process. Companies are faced with the insufficient number of workers and occupational diseases of their employees, the choice of suppliers, and the availability of raw materials, as well as how all of this is affected by geopolitical problems.
