Whistleblowersystem
Compliance with applicable laws and regulations is a matter of course for Naturland - Verband für ökologischen Landbau e.V. (hereinafter referred to as Naturland e.V.). This applies at local, national and international level. Violations of this are not compatible with our principles.
Naturland e.V. has therefore set up a whistleblower system in which you can report possible violations of the law in relation to Naturland e.V. (completely anonymously if you wish).
WHO CAN SUBMIT A REPORT?
The whistleblower system is open to all employees, business partners, consumers and other third parties who wish to report specific or potential legal violations under the Whistleblower Protection Act (e.g. corruption, fraud, discrimination, harassment, violation of human rights, violations of antitrust law).
We would like to encourage employees and external parties to inform us of suspected legal violations and misconduct. This allows risks to be recognised and addressed at an early stage and remedial action to be taken if necessary.
IMPORTANT:
Complaints from consumers, for example about the quality of Naturland-certified products or about Naturland-certified member operations, are not considered offences under the Whistleblower Protection Act. Please contact the head office of Naturland e.V. (Kleinhaderner Weg 1, 82166 Gräfelfing; phone: +49 (0)89 898082-0; e-mail:
For data protection questions or to report data protection violations, please contact our data protection officer (Kleinhaderner Weg 1, 82166 Gräfelfing; phone: +49 (0)89 898082-0; e-mail:
As an employee of Naturland e.V., please note that the whistleblower system should not be used for interpersonal conflicts with managers or colleagues. In such cases, please contact the HR department or the works council.
CONFIDENTIALITY
The identity of whistleblowers is subject to confidentiality and, in the case of non-anonymous reports, is only known to the reporting centre. Whistleblowers are also subject to comprehensive legal protection so that they do not have to expect any retaliation or negative consequences as a result of their report. In particular, our employees who make a report do not have to fear any disadvantages in a professional context.
Options for submitting a report
The following reporting channels are available to you for reporting information on specific or potential legal violations in accordance with the Whistleblower Protection Act:
ONLINE REPORTING SYSTEM:
You can use our online reporting system to report legal violations to us confidentially and in various languages at any time. You can decide for yourself whether you want to report anonymously or by name.
If the desired language is not available in the online reporting system, please select German or English and complete the form in your preferred language. The online reporting system enables smooth and data protection-compliant communication between whistleblowers and the responsible Naturland e.V. compliance management team.
You can submit your report here:
After you submit a report, you will receive individual access data for the mailbox for your case. Please make a note of the access data and keep it in a safe place. You can use the access data to track the processing status of your report at any time via the online reporting system (link provided) and add further information if required. If further questions arise during the examination of your case, you can contact us confidentially via the online reporting system. Please follow the status of your report.
We strongly recommend that you use our online reporting system to submit reports. If you would like to submit reports without using the online reporting system, you can also use the following reporting channels:
EMAIL:
You can send an e-mail to the Compliance Management of Naturland e.V. (
POST:
If you prefer to send us your report or concern by letter, please address the envelope to the following postal address:
Compliance Management
Naturland - Association for Organic Agriculture
Kleinhaderner Weg 1
82166 Gräfelfing
PERSONALLY:
If you would like to discuss your report or concern in a personal meeting with Compliance Management, please send an e-mail to
DATA PROTECTION:
You have the option of submitting your report or concern anonymously. If you decide to provide your personal data voluntarily and thus make a non-anonymous report, we will process your information for the sole purpose of processing your report on the basis of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. c, f, GDPR. Further information on data protection and your rights can be found here.
PROCEDURE AFTER REPORTING A TIP-OFF:
Every tip-off or report is carefully checked by the Compliance Manager. If there are concrete indications of a breach of the law, the Compliance Manager will initiate a further investigation, which may involve other bodies required for clarification if necessary. If the investigation comes to the conclusion that a legal offence has indeed been committed, appropriate sanctions will be imposed. As a whistleblower, you will receive feedback after 3 months at the latest as to whether and what measures have been taken in the case you have reported or whether the proceedings have been discontinued.
The reports are documented in the online reporting system and deleted in accordance with the statutory deletion periods. For reports in accordance with the Whistleblower Protection Act, this is 3 years after the conclusion of the procedure.