Salewa® USA

We have been a Fair Wear Foundation Leader since 2017.

92% of our textile products come from monitored factories.

All of our suppliers have to sign and commit to our Code of Conduct.

WE MAKE OUR PRODUCTS IN 21 DIFFERENT COUNTRIES WORLDWIDE, 12 OF WHICH ARE IN EUROPE.

Europe: Albania, Austria, Belarus, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia

Africa: Tunisie

Asia: Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Korea, Myanmar, Taiwan, Vietnam

*These were our production countries in 2020

CODE OF CONDUCT

A REFLECTION OF OUR VALUES

As an international company, we work with manufacturing facilities around the world and invest in responsible, long-term business relationships that meet the highest standards. All our partners respect our values and sign our Code of Conduct (CoC) - Salewa's basic requirement for a supplier relationship.

Code of Conduct

WE HAVE BEEN FAIR WEAR FOUNDATION LEADERS SINCE 2017

The Fair Wear Foundation FWF is an independent, non-profit organisation, dedicated to improving working conditions within the textile industry. We have been working together with the Fair Wear Foundation to better implement the principles in our Code of Conduct since 2013.

Salewa is constantly working to improve working conditions throughout its supply chain. Despite the fact that 100% "fair clothing" is an elusive goal, we are working hard to achieve it. Step by step, in close cooperation with our suppliers, we make improvements that are reviewed with the support of the Fair Wear Foundation.

Derived from the lower feathers of waterfowl such as ducks and geese, down has astounding properties that make it a unique marvel of nature - Light as a snowflake, it protects against the cold and is highly compressible due to its elasticity. No other material combines extremely low weight with high thermal insulation. Hence, down has a superior heat and weight ratio. As a result, high quality down has decisive advantages over synthetic materials and meets the strictest of requirements in its stride. We carefully ensure that our down jackets and sleeping bags are only filled with high quality, ethically harvested down. To ensure this in a transparent and credible fashion while eradicating unnecessary animal suffering from the supply chain, SALEWA has decided, going forward, to only purchase down that comes with RDS (Responsible Down Standard) certification. The RDS is currently the most comprehensive, independent certified animal welfare and traceability standard worldwide. The development of the standards required a major commitment by various stakeholders; especially input from suppliers, farmers, animal welfare organizations and industry experts was essential. The standard addresses issues proactively by setting clear requirements and auditing against them on a regular basis, including unannounced audits.

RDS means: Complete ban of live-plucking and force feeding of ducks and geese Robust criteria to ensure that the five freedoms of the animals are protected Animals are never killed solely for their down or feathers Yearly audits of every stage of production (farm, slaughterhouse, processers, etc.) Strict and transparent procedures in place to protect the integrity of the standard (e.g. loss of certification for non‐compliance and pulling product in cases of false or inaccurate labeling) For more information on the Responsible Down Standard visit: www.responsibledown.org

KEY FACTS AND FIGURES

HOW WE CHECK OUR PRODUCTION FACILITIES

• Regular factory visits: Salewa employees regularly visit production sites during the various development and production stages to verify the required quality standards and working conditions.
• Audits: All suppliers have to agree to audits from third parties at least every three years. These are conducted in the local language by teams of experts to carry out a comprehensive and in-depth evaluation: worker interviews, health and safety check and thorough document inspections. Afterwards, findings are shared with the factory and a report on the findings is shared with us too.
• Improvement plan: The audit report lists all the areas that can be improved, from minor to major. Together with our suppliers, we work out a plan on how to solve these problems. Concrete measures and a binding timeline are established. Salewa supports suppliers in their implementation of actions.

HOW THE FAIR WEAR FOUNDATION MONITORS US

• Fair Wear Foundation doesn't just help us audit our factories - they also verify that we walk out talk through the yearly Brand Performance Check. It publishes the progress achieved and the result rating in a report.
• Audit review: The Fair Wear Foundation selectively visits our production sites (without prior warning) to review the implementation of the defined standards.
• Complaints mechanism: Production facility employees have the opportunity to freely and anonymously complain by phone or e-mail to the Fair Wear Foundation. Complaints are reported to Salewa so that we can find a satisfactory solution to the problem with all the parties concerned.

Every single person who works for Salewa is important to us! We are committed to ensuring good and fair working conditions, both in our own offices and in our suppliers' manufacturing facilities. Our efforts and commitment in ensuring fair working conditions in textile production have been confirmed by the Leader Status we were awarded for three years in a row by Fair Wear Foundation.