Assessment of the environmental and social risks of the benzoin value-chain for sustainable sourcing Viet Nam, Lao peoples democratic republic

Context of the service

Private companies sourcing bio-based materials – particularly in developing countries – must now take into account several European legislative texts, which have a direct impact on their practices.

Two European Directives (Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence – CSDD and Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive – CSRD) that came into force in 2024 require large companies to conduct due diligence to identify, prevent and mitigate adverse human rights and environmental impacts in their value chain, and to report their impacts accurately and transparently.

This service is part of a long-term support for a luxury perfumery player in the identification of risks relating to human, social, environmental, Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) rights, and the resilience of its supply chains around the world, and the mitigation of these risks (implementation of compliance actions for all players in the sector / strengthening of certification schemes (UEBT, organic, FFL) / changes of supplier and/or supply area).

Services provided

The evaluation involved :

- Preliminary risk assessment - for each country, Vietnam and Laos - based on global databases: forced labour, child labour, indigenous peoples, corruption, HDI, biodiversity, deforestation, etc.

- Analysis of bibliographic data on the benzoin sectors in Vietnam and Laos: key actors, socio-economic importance (including on the decent income of rural households), impacts on forests and biodiversity, market dynamics, climbing techniques for tapping, etc.

- Analysis of documents provided by local suppliers: procedures in place, level of traceability, employee management, certification, geolocation, forest inventories, etc.

- Field missions to Vietnam and Laos and interviews (i) at the processing sites, with permanent and seasonal managers and employees, (ii) on the plantations, with tappers and seasonal employees, and (iii) with tappers in production and protection forests.

- Compilation of data in a grid of more than 75 criteria, triangulation with different sources and assignment of a score for each course.

- Feedback with suppliers and definition of compliance action plans with deadlines.

Summary of the service

Environmental and social risk assessment of the benzoin value-chain for sustainable sourcing in Vietnam and Laos: Preliminary risk assessment based on global databases; Analysis of bibliographic data on the value-chain Analysis of documents provided by suppliers; Field mission and interviews with all stakeholders (treatment site and plantations/forests); Compilation / triangulation / scoring in a grid of more than 75 criteria; Feedback with suppliers and definition of a compliance action plan.