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Changing Supply Chains - Making Trade Safe and Fair

Pandemics, wars and natural disasters jeopardize trade and supply chain security.

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Still Doku "Lieferketten im Wandel" — Image: ZDF

Even in the best of times, international supply chains often lack the necessary transparency, especially when it comes to poor working and environmental conditions.

Catherine Körting from Betterwood stands in front of tree trunks that have been felled sustainably, as they all have a registration number. — Catherine Körting from Betterwood imports tropical wood to Germany. To ensure that everything is produced fairly, she regularly visits the places where her wood comes from.Image: ZDF

Two ways to counteract these problems are to produce more products locally, or to exert more control over supply chains. The Cologne-based timber company Betterwood, which transports sustainable wood from Peru to Germany, shows how this can be done. Or the pharmaceutical company Sandoz, which is the only plant in Europe that still produces penicillin.

A burned area in the Peruvian jungle — The traces of illegal deforestation: this is what it looks like in many places in the Peruvian jungle, precious nature illegally burnt down and ancient giant trees destroyed forever. Image: ZDF

For decades, the rainforest in Peru has been destroyed by people illegally clearing it for farming and grazing land. Catherine Körting wanted to change this. She found a way to contribute to the preservation of the rainforest by selling tropical timber. With her company Betterwood, she sells fair-trade and controlled tropical timber in Germany.

Catherine Körting inspects a tree to be felled with a forest worker. — This giant jungle tree has been cleared for felling, but forest worker Reynaldo Pacheco has reservations.Image: ZDF

Together with her partner companies in Peru, she ensures that only as many trees are felled as the ecosystem can bear. She knows exactly where the wood is felled and by whom. She keeps track of those who store the wood and ship it from Peru to the warehouse near Cologne. "Our traceability extends from the standing tree to the final destination," she says.

Shortages in the supply of medicines have become increasingly common in recent years. When vital medicines are no longer available, the negative consequences of relying on long supply chains become apparent. Most antibiotics sold in Germany now come from Asia. Many pharmaceutical companies have moved their production there for cost reasons.

View from above of the village of Kundl in the Tyrolean Alps (Austria) — In an emergency, Kundl in Tyrol could become the last bastion for the security of supply of antibiotics.Image: ZDF

The pharmaceutical company Sandoz is different. It produces penicillin in Kundl, Austria - the last manufacturer in Europe. Austrian government subsidies of 50 million euros for the production of active ingredients were an important step towards ensuring security of supply for the whole of Europe.

Small medicine bottles with fresh penicillin come out of the production line. — The example of penicillin production in Kundl shows how Europe can become more independent in the fight against supply shortages. Image: ZDF

Millions of units of the valuable antibiotics are produced in the plant’s huge halls. And the company continues to grow: in the future, it should be possible to supply the entire European market with penicillin from Sandoz.

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SUN 27.10.2024 – 00:02 UTC

SUN 27.10.2024 – 03:30 UTC
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WED 30.10.2024 – 18:30 UTC

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Changing Supply Chains - Making Trade Safe and Fair

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