As a business, we are committed to complying with all relevant laws and regulations while upholding the highest standards of ethics. We expect everyone who works with us, from our employees to our suppliers and contractors, to share our values and help promote a culture where people do the right thing as a matter of course.

We train our colleagues to be able to recognise and speak up about inappropriate conduct. Our Asda Ethics team reviews, analyses and addresses any issues confidentially.

To help our colleagues understand what we mean by acting with integrity, we also provide a Statement of Ethics. Our stakeholders can raise questions or concerns through a central helpline or via email.

Asda’s Compliance programme focuses on evolving challenges in the retail sector and sets the tone for the behaviour we expect from our colleagues and partners. It is a crucial part of our ability to grow in the right way. Above all, it means treating people with respect, acting with personal integrity and complying with the laws of the communities in which we operate.

The Financial Crime compliance team is focussed on supporting the business to comply with the relevant laws, regulations and policies aimed at the prevention of financial crime, including but not limited to Money Laundering, Bribery and Corruption and Tax Evasion.

The Financial Services compliance team provide compliance programmes covering Asda Money & Mobile, including policies, procedures, training and advice to help the business operate within the relevant legal and regulatory frameworks, in particular the FCA Handbook and OFCOMs General Conditions.

We focus on compliance with traditional antitrust and competition law, as well as the Groceries Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP) legislation applicable to grocery retailers with an annual turnover of over £1 billion, designed to ensure that we treat our suppliers fairly.

Our team of environmental professionals develops and oversees programmes that ensure the company interacts with the external environment in a positive, sustainable and responsible manner. See the Environmental pages on this site as to how we go beyond compliance to protect the environment, including by delivering training to our colleagues to help manage waste in our stores and tackle any fuel spillages effectively.

Providing access to safe, high-quality food is a vital part of our commitment to our customers. Asda upholds all relevant food safety laws, and in addition to regulatory authorities routinely assessing food safety and hygiene across our business formats, we have developed an independent third-party food safety audit programme to verify that the highest standards are in place. Building on this, we have well-established Primary Authority Partnerships in place for food safety and hygiene, and we continue to focus on food safety and hygiene to further raise standards, working in partnership with our colleagues, our suppliers and independent third parties.

Providing access to safe, high-quality foods is a vital part of our commitment to our customers. Asda upholds all relevant food safety laws, and in addition to regulators routinely assessing food safety and hygiene standards in our stores, we also have regular visits from independent third-party food safety auditors who check that our food safety and hygiene procedures are being implemented consistently across all of our stores. Building on this, we also have Primary Authority Partnerships in place for food safety and hygiene, and are increasingly working on plans to further raise standards, working in partnership with our colleagues, suppliers and third parties.

Our food safety team are responsible for food safety supplier management and ensuring that food safety and hygiene regulatory requirements are in place operationally across the wider business. The team oversee the creation and communication of the operational controls and working practices required to effectively manage food safety and hygiene. They also manage a third-party food safety audit programme, that has been developed to independently verify that the food safety programme is being implemented diligently and consistently across all relevant business. In 2021, we added allergen labelling in line with ‘Natasha’s Law.
Read more here

The trade programme is responsible for ensuring that Asda adheres to all applicable laws and regulations concerning imports, exports and customs duties. Asda is an Authorised Economic Operator, which means we are recognised by HMRC for maintaining a safe, secure and compliant supply chain.

Within our Optical and Pharmacy businesses we focus on complying with all regulation, legislation and professional bodies’ guidance and best practice in all areas. This helps to ensure we protect our patients, professionals and the business from claims, sanctions and reputational damage.

Our Product Safety team is responsible for ensuring the launch of safe and legal products across our non-food areas (Non-Edible Grocery, General Merchandise and George). This includes clear communication and training to our technical teams on new and updated legislation, and the development of supplier policies and communications for Asda/George specific requirements. The team also implements a product surveillance testing programme and supports incident management, ensuring the right decisions are made for our customers; and manages two due diligence systems that ensure compliance with both chemical and timber regulations.

The Consumer Protection team looks after a wide variety of consumer regulations, including pricing practices, weights and measures, age restricted products and public-facing materials. The team’s support is vital for any customer innovation projects. In particular, it covers key issues such as our Challenge 25 policy and adherence to Business Pricing Rules. The team also work with our Trading Standards Primary Authority, implementing and updating assured advice and investigating customer referrals.

At Asda, we are committed to having the right technical and organisational controls in place to make sure that colleague, customer and supplier information is suitably protected.

We learn from best practice and use the National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) to check how well we are doing. It’s a standard that is designed to help businesses manage and reduce cybersecurity risks. It also reflects the maturity of our business in terms of data protection.

We also comply with the Payment Card Industry’s Data Security Standard – a global standard designed to reduce card fraud by ensuring that businesses process card transactions securely. It’s an important way of protecting sensitive cardholder data.

We also employ an internal security risk and compliance review as part of our IT project methodology to check systems are designed with security in mind. Following the separation from Walmart this is an area we are currently developing our new bespoke Asda programme. We will provide further information when it is available.

We collect and handle personal information relating to millions of people every day. Respect for the Individual is at the heart of all we do, so we do take our responsibilities to each one of you, regarding your Personal Information, very seriously. Whatever your relationship with Asda, we make this promise to you:

• Be open and honest about the Information we collect

• Use it only for specific purposes we’ve told you about

• Collect no more than we need for those purposes

• Check that it’s accurate and keep it up to date

• Keep it for no longer than we need it

• Protect your Privacy and your Information

• Explain your Privacy Rights and how to exercise them

• Respond quickly to any concerns you raise with us

• Treat you and your Information fairly and lawfully.

Our Privacy Centre helps us do this. It provides information relating to the handling of personal information by Asda. You can access the Privacy Centre from a desktop, tablet or smartphone. It’s simple to navigate with all the information in a clear and easy-to-read format.