Voluntary Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement

Fane Valley Co-Operative Society Limited and its subsidiaries (“Fane Valley”) are making a voluntary modern slavery and human trafficking statement pursuant to section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
 
Modern slavery is a crime and a violation of fundamental human rights. We at Fane Valley are committed to acting ethically and with integrity in all our business dealings and relationships. This includes implementing and enforcing effective systems and controls to ensure that modern slavery is not taking place anywhere in our own business or in any of our supply chains.
 
We are also committed to ensuring that there is transparency in our approach to tackling modern slavery throughout our business and supply chains, consistent with our disclosure obligations under the Modern Slavery Act 2015. We expect the same high standards from all our contractors, suppliers and other business partners.
 
This is a Group Statement and covers all businesses within the Fane Valley Group.
 
Our business
 
Based in Moira, Northern Ireland, Fane Valley is a progressive agricultural and food processing business, with interests in animal feed manufacturing, agricultural supplies and the provision of agronomy & forage services, porridge oats & breakfast cereals, the production of beef drippings, the processing of edible offal’s and fully integrated duck processing and production.
 
We operate across multiple locations in both the UK and Ireland and our supply base for goods and services consists of businesses with whom we have a long and trusted relationship, across many different sectors. We are committed to ensuring that workers employed within our supply chains are treated fairly, humanely, and equitably.
 
We are making this voluntary statement to show our commitment to ethical trading principles and to set out the steps we are taking to tackle modern slavery and human trafficking in our business and in our supply chains.
 
Our standard contract of employment sets out the rights and obligations of all employees of Fane Valley Co-Operative Society Limited and its subsidiaries. We are committed to recognising and responding to trafficking if we do encounter it as part of our work, including in our supply chains, as well as in any part of our operations. In this regard:
 
Employees are free to serve notice at any time and they are made aware of the notice
requirements in their contract of employment.
We operate a robust recruitment policy, including conducting eligibility to work in the UK
checks for all employees to safeguard against human trafficking or individuals being forced to
work against their will.
The Company pays all its employees at least the national minimum wage and adheres to all
legislation in respect of working time and statutory leave, including the provision of at least
the minimum amount of holiday leave, time off for personal emergencies, sickness and
maternity/paternity leave and minimum rest breaks.
 
Our commitment to ethical trading
 
Our Modern Slavery Policy reflects our commitment to acting ethically and with integrity in all our business relationships. The Policy sets out our continuing efforts to ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place anywhere in our supply chains.
 
We also implement the following policies throughout our business to ensure that we are conducting business in an ethical and transparent manner:
 
Anti-Bribery policy.
Equal Opportunities & Diversity policy.
Harassment & Bullying policy.
Whistleblowing policy.
Supplier policy.
 
Fane Valley uses only specified, reputable employment agencies that adhere to our anti-slavery and human trafficking policy to source labour and always verifies the practices of any new agency before accepting workers from that agency.
 
As part of our initiative to identify and mitigate risk, a requirement to comply with the Modern Slavery Act 2015 will be contained in our updated supplier contracts going forward and existing suppliers will be required to comply with this requirement on the renewal of their contract with the Fane Valley Group.
 
Due diligence and risk assessment
 
We screen suppliers and sub-contractors to ensure that they are committed to ethical labour practices and include anti-slavery and human tracking provisions in all contracts with suppliers.
 
We are in the process of contacting all suppliers to request that they confirm whether their business is compliant with the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and to stress that such compliance is an ongoing requirement of doing business with us.
 
Effectiveness in combating slavery and human trafficking
 
We use the following key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure how effective we have been at ensuring that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place in any part of our business or supply chains:
 
The percentage of suppliers and sub-contractors vetted for ethical labour practices.
The number of reported breaches in the past year.
Percentage of staff receiving training on identifying and addressing the risk of slavery and human trafficking in our business and supply chains.
 
Training
 
To maintain awareness and ensure a high level of understanding of the risks of modern slavery and human trafficking across our business we will continue to train relevant members of staff and ensure that our Anti-slavery Policy is available to all staff.
 
Fane Valley ensures that all new joiners to the company are briefed on the Modern Slavery Act 2015 as part of their induction.
 
Further steps
 
Following a review of the effectiveness of the steps we have taken this year to combat slavery or human trafficking in our supply chains we are confident that modern slavery and human trafficking within our businesses and associated supply chains is not a major risk.
 
We are aiming to take the following steps in the next 12 months to combat slavery and human trafficking:

Complete a random audit of the top suppliers in Fane Valley Feeds Limited.

Implement a programme of training for all supervisors to monitor, record and report where workers’ appearance may show signs of injury or malnourishment.
Include Modern Slavery & Human Trafficking in each business risk assessment.
Include Modern Slavery & Human Trafficking in all trading contracts.
Circulate training to all staff via Metacompliance.
Review and (if appropriate) update our Modern Slavery policy each year to ensure that it reflects and addresses issues or changing experiences in relation to modern slavery and human trafficking.
Update the Group Board on progress.

This voluntary slavery and human trafficking statement is made in connection with section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, for the financial year ending September 2023. It was approved by the board 20th December 2023.