After the LkSG is before European supply chain law

In January 2023, the Supply Chain Act (LkSG) came into force in Germany. Companies are thus held to a much greater obligation when it comes to compliance. The aim of the law, which will also soon have a European counterpart, is to improve the protection of human rights in global supply chains. This includes compliance with basic human rights standards such as the prohibition of child labor and forced labor. Companies in Germany with an initial size of 3,000 employees are confronted with clear requirements within their own supply chain. The European counterpart is also about to be introduced. On June 2, 2023, the European Parliament voted in favor of the EU Supply Chain Law. Next, the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers still have to negotiate a common position so that the law can be passed. After that, the EU states have to implement the directive into national law within two years. The German LkSG is ahead of its time from a European perspective, but must certainly be harmonized with European law as soon as it comes into force.

However, according to a spring survey by the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK), companies are facing problems when implementing the new requirements. Increased bureaucracy, higher costs, liability risks and possible legal uncertainty as well as the lack of transparency in one’s own supply chain are mentioned as the most common problems with implementation. Our PR client SHS Viveon AG is very well positioned on this topic. In addition to a formalized supplier self-assessment, which all parties involved in the supply chain must fill out, users of the SHS Viveon platform solution can also call up an aggregated ESG (environmental, social and governance) score for each of their suppliers, or detailed information about the individual criteria of the Preserved ESG.

An article in eCommerce Magazin explains in detail how companies can use IT-based systems to significantly simplify the implementation of the LkSG and, given current conflict areas, can also focus more on sanctions list checks.

WORDUP PR is very familiar with the topics of supply chain law, sustainability, ESG as well as environmental and climate protection and has been advising corporate clients on this topic with effective public relations strategies for several years.