amfori

amfori is a global business association supporting over 2,400 companies in improving their ESG performance across international supply chains. With over 20 years of expertise, we help businesses strengthen responsible sourcing practices and mitigate risks. Because public procurement represents 15% of EU GDP, it has a significant influence on market behaviour and on the competitiveness of European companies.

amfori sees the draft ESRS as a good compromise between pragmatism and reporting value for companies. We ask for the swift adoption of the ESRS without further significant alterations. The new approach leverages the expertise developed by companies under international frameworks and brings reporting and due diligence processes closer.

As a business association whose mission is to support its members with improving the social and environmental performance of their supply chains through common tools and collaborative approaches, amfori has been a long-standing advocate of the benefits of well-designed EU-wide due diligence legislation.

amfori, advocating for sustainable trade, welcomes a Sustainable Product Initiative (SPI) that will mainstream sustainable requirements in the EU market. Such an initiative can guide all companies towards their transition towards more circularity and provide a competitive advantage for frontrunners. Here are a few points to ensure that sustainability objectives are not diluted by administrative burden for companies.

As a business organisation with sustainability at the core of its mission, amfori welcomes the recent publication by the EU Commission of its proposal for a Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). The attached paper outlines amfori’s views on the CSRD proposal as recently presented by the European Commission in April 2021.

1. About amfori amfori is a global business association supporting over 2,400 companies in improving their ESG performance across international supply chains. With over 20 years of expertise, we help businesses strengthen responsible sourcing practices and mitigate risks.

amfori welcomes the proposed General Product Safety regulation and the goal that it seeks to achieve. It is important that consumers can be assured that the products they buy – many of which will be from amfori retailer members – are safe, and to have recourse to action in the, hopefully rare, occasions that proves not to be the case. The enhanced coherence with other, similar, areas is also appreciated.

amfori believes that it is important intellectual property rights are protected. In this regard, not only are amfori producer members able to defend their rights against illegitimate (counterfeit) products, but amfori retail members are able to use the system to avoid the situation where counterfeit products are mistakenly sold in their stores.

In principle, the current GSP system is effective – and its development (e.g. of tariff rates) is followed closely. If it were removed, the less productive factories in GSP countries would likely be no longer competitive. This would not be in the interest of GSP countries nor of the EU wishing to favour these countries.