Employment of Political Prisoners in The Production Is Most Strongly Condemned

On 30 April 2012 the Ikea group repeated calready made in August 2011,in which employment of political prisoners in the production is most strongly condemned.In August the programme WDR Markencheck reported that in the 1970s and 1980s Ikea used to have products made,for example,by political prisoners in the GDR.The group subsequently instigated investigations.On 2 May the Swedish television transmitter Uppdrag Granskning again broadcast a documentary programme in which reference was made to these accusations.In August Ikea had stated that the group was in possession of written confirmation from the state-owned foreign-trade business organisation in the GDR to the effect that the products were only made in factories with which Ikea was familiar and which were also visited regularly by inspectors.There had never been any indication that political prisoners had been involved in manufacturing Ikea products.In 2000 the Ikea group had introduced a code of conduct under the name of IWAY which was intended to ensure that Ikea products are manufactured under acceptable working conditions.According to company sources,Ikea conducts over 1,000 inspections per year announced as well as unannounced,in order to check that the code of conduct is being adhered to.