A key element of the Lieferkettengesetz is the completion of the annual 18-page BAFA Report that goes far beyond box ticking so how to manage the reporting requirements of what some are describing as a bureaucratic beast?
The Lieferkettengesetz is a significant development in the field of corporate responsibility and supply chain transparency. You can read more about The Lieferkettengesetz in our Ultimate Guide. The Lieferkettengesetz came into effect in 2023 for organisations with more than 3000 employees. Importantly, from 1 January 2024, The Lieferkettengesetz is being expanded to organisations with more than 1000 employees creating a new requirement for many German businesses as well as companies that export to Germany.
A key requirement of The Lieferkettengesetz is the completion of the annual BAFA Report; a lengthy multi-part questionnaire containing 215 primary questions plus 222 individually numbered answer choices.
BAFA supply chain reporting
Possibly the most challenging component of the BAFA Report is the 20% that is dedicated to human rights abuses and environmental violations in a company’s supply chain. This component of the Report requires companies to explain their approach to assessing the risk and the action they have taken to mitigate those risks.
Data collection and validation
Unsurprisingly, collecting and validating the supplier data necessary to adequately meet The Lieferkettengesetz requirements is proving challenging for many organisations. Achilles has a long history of working on behalf of clients to collect the supplier information required by The Lieferkettengesetz and has developed a specific Lieferkettengesetz questionnaire designed to meet its exacting requirements while minimising the effort required by suppliers.
Data provenance and accuracy
The Achilles team operates in 17 countries worldwide and communicates in more than 20 languages to ensure we achieve the required levels of supplier engagement and provide the global supply chain insight and analysis necessary to correctly identify and enable you to address your risks across even the most geographically diverse operations.
The uniquely robust Achilles process includes data verification collected using a wide range of sources including (but not limited to) publicly accessible and historical information from the internet, investigation reports from NGOs and charities and our own extensive knowledge and insight collected from many years of working in supply chain risk and the in-person audits and worker interviews we have undertaken. This multi-disciplined approach is crucial for compliance with Lieferkettengesetz.
Importantly for German companies with large export markets, this approach also ensures you can also meet the requirements of other emerging global supply chain legislation such as EU CS DDD, Apenhetsloven in Norway and Bill S-211 in Canada that may apply to your business.
Reporting confidence
The final stage of Achilles’ process is to produce a detailed Lieferkettengesetz report that provides the environmental and social information you need to respond to each of the supply chain elements of the BAFA report with confidence.
The Achilles Lieferkettengesetz report directly maps to the key BAFA supply chain questions enabling you to cut and paste responses into the online questionnaire easily, efficiently and, most importantly, confidently avoid the penalties associated with incomplete or inadequate submissions.
Risk mitigation and supply chain improvement
The Achilles Lieferkettengesetz report also provides details of your highest-risk suppliers to enable you to identify clear next steps for improvement and mitigation – another requirement of the legislation.
To learn more about how Achilles can help you comply with the requirements of the Lieferkettengesetz contact us using the form provided, book an appointment here or email or call our German office here.
Further reading:
The Achilles Ultimate Guide to Lieferkettengesetz
The Differences between Lieferkettengesetz and EU CS DDD
