TruStone Initiative
TruStone is a joint initiative in which the Flemish and Dutch natural stone industry, Flemish and Dutch governments, NGOs and trade unions work together towards the responsible production and purchase of natural stone. The members of this covenant commit themselves to responsible business practices with respect for people and nature.
Our commitments
Within the initiative, we work together to meet all the main international standards for responsible procurement. The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises serve as the starting point for the TruStone Initiative. The guidelines are aligned with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and incorporate relevant elements of the ILO Core Labour Standards. These standards include both social and environmental guidelines.
Why TruStone?
In Asia, Africa and South America, natural stone is extracted under conditions that violate human and labour rights. The environment is also often damaged. Brachot is taking the initiative to tackle this problem together with the natural stone sector in Flanders and the Netherlands. TruStone is actively mapping the risks in the sector and works together to tackle the different problems. These problems include child labour, forced labour, lack of trade union freedom and safety and health in the chain.
What is Trustone?
Membership of the TruStone Initiative means more than just certification. For example, certificates are awarded solely on the basis of audits that only provide temporary insights. Another important difference is that certificates rarely comply with OECD and UNGP standards. TruStone goes much further. By continuously committing to strict standards, we strive for a more sustainable natural stone chain every day.
Our specific contribution in the chain
We actively participate in TruStone's risk assessments and stakeholder dialogues and in the No Child Left Behind project. The priorities identified within those projects are implemented at regional level by local organisations. Progress is reported on TruStone's website (https://www.imvoconvenanten.nl/en/trustone/initiatief/projects) In addition, we discuss those priorities directly with our suppliers and, where necessary, support the approach.
Last year, several of our suppliers in Rajasthan implemented the E-shram card that ensures transparency of employment and wages, installed drinking water spots and provided shade areas.