VOLCOM’S COMPLIANCE JOURNEY
Volcom has been building what it means to be True to This since 2006 when our compliance journey began. That year Volcom established our first Code of Conduct and began auditing the supply chain in alignment with other action sports brands to begin auditing in 2007 under WRAP. From the first compliance conference we attended in 2008, which lead to adding chemical compliance under our program, we have been growing and learning as we go. It is important to Volcom to stay ahead of what is happening in the industry to be best in class. This led to creating our compliance series, which we run annually internally and bi-annually with our supply chain partners. This gives us the platform to articulate our expectations around producing our products with our manufacturing partners as our requirements and expectations change and the industry evolves.
In 2011, all compliance efforts consolidated under one team incorporating social, chemical, and regulatory compliance. We renamed the program Product and Social Safety (P.A.S.S.) in 2014, responsible for ensuring that compliance standards adopted by the company are met globally.
INTRO TO P.A.S.S.
The P.A.S.S. program has been setting the standard across the Action Sports Industry since our first social audits in 2006. We have achieved significant milestones throughout our programs inception. Some of these include:
- 2006: Volcom issues first Code of Conduct.
- 2007: Volcom begins social audits using WRAP, aligning with our action sports brands.
- 2008: Volcom attends VCF Conference in San Francisco, CA. Added chemical to program.
- 2010: Held first Global Vendor Summit at Volcom headquarters in Costa Mesa, CA covering compliance requirements.
- 2011: Social responsiblity, chemical management and performance are merged into a single program.
- 2012: Compliance KPI is presented to the executive team.
- 2013: Presentation given at AAFA on testing and compliance programs.
- 2014: Volcom renames program: Product and Social Safety (P.A.S.S.).
- 2014: Volcom moves to Bureau Veritas for all social audits. Testing remained with Intertek and SGS.
- 2014: Volcom joins the Fair Labor Association as an affiliate member.
- 2014: Volcom holds first Internal Compliance Seminar (ICS) for all product teams.
- 2014: Volcom holds first Global Compliance Summit (GCS) in Shanghai, China, covering vendor manual that includes compliance and testing standards and processes.
- 2015: Second annual ICS is held at Volcom headquarters in Costa Mesa, CA.
- 2015: Presented at AAFA on improving compliance through testing and vendor selection.
- 2015: Presented at Magic's Sourcing Expo in Las Vegas on vendor selection and testing.
- 2016: Third annual ICS is held, expanding to included sales and ecommerce teams in addition to product teams.
- 2016: Presented at ICPHSO on Volcom's P.A.S.S. program to an audience of industry leaders and lawmakers.
- 2016: Volcom begins social compliance improvement project with parent company, Kering.
- 2016: P.A.S.S. programs is expanded to include all Volcom licensees as well as European and Australian supply chains.
- 2017: Revised Code of Conduct is implemented.
- 2017: Implemented revised audit tool and protocol.
- 2017: Fourth annual ICS is held at Volcom headquarters in Costa Mesa, CA and expands to include marketing teams.
These are just a handful of the things we have done over the years in working towards building a program that is continuously improving and truly global.
