Read Axfood’s Code of Conduct (pdf)

Global Compact

All of Axfood’s business and relationships are to be distinguished by generally accepted business practice and high ethics. The Group’s Code of Conduct provides guidance for our conduct and lays out Axfood’s positions with respect to:

• Legal requirements
• Conditions at the workplace, such as freedom to organize unions, child labour, safety and discrimination
• Environmental protection and animal welfare
• Use of resources and impacts on local communities
• Bribery and corruption

The Code of Conduct is reviewed annuallly and updated when necessary.

Business Social Compliance Initiative

Axfood has also worked with its Code of Conduct as part of its membership in the Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI), which is an alliance of companies working together to improve working conditions in the global value chain. One of the most important adjustments that has been made to harmonize the Code with the BSCI’s principles has involved incorporating the so-called Ruggie framework principles for human rights, which entail staying actively informed and minimizing risks.

Axfood has been a signatory of the UN Global Compact business initiative since 2002, which lays out ten principles pertaining to human rights, working conditions, the environment and anti-corruption. These principles are grounded in the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the ILO’s Fundamental Conventions on human rights in the workplace, the Rio Declaration, and the UN Convention against Corruption.

Axfood’s ethical guidelines

Our relations with suppliers are to be characterized by generally accepted business practice and a high standard of business ethics. In recent years our purchasing work has been further systematized with the aim of establishing more qualified requirements in the purchasing process and ensuring that our assortment meets our customers’ expectations. Axfood’s membership in BSCI, together with a strengthened purchasing organization, contributes to the Group’s work with social responsibility.

To ensure uniform conduct among all Axfood employees, we adhere to ethical guidelines concerning the offering and accepting of bribes and corruption. Pertinent employees certify in writing that they have acknowledged these guidelines. To minimize the risk for corruption, we strive to change category managers every three years. Parallel with this, it is important that we take steps to ensure that our suppliers are in compliance with national laws and regulations and that they respect international conventions.