Prohibited Industries

Scope

Customer’s business and operations cannot be involved in any of the industries or activities on the list below. If you are unsure whether your business falls under a listed category, contact [email protected] before applying.

Agriculture and Forestry

1. Deforestation or the burning of natural ecosystems for the purpose of land clearance relating to the establishment of large scale agricultural plantations
2. Illegal logging or trading in illegally harvested or uncertified timber
3. Producing, processing and/or trading of palm oil by companies that are not a member of- or in the process of becoming a member of- the Round Table for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)

Animal Protein

1. Large-scale ruminant farming (over 500,000 heads)

Animal Welfare

1. Animal testing unless this is required by law and done in the least harmful way
2. Commercial events with animals where the Five Animal Freedoms are not respected
3. Producing, processing and/or trading Angora wool
4. Producing, processing and/or trading fur
5. Using endangered species or great apes for testing and experimental purposes

Chemicals and Substances

1. Activities non-compliant with the EU regulation on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH)
2. Activities violating the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal
3. Agents involved in the sale of fuels and industrial chemicals prohibited
4. Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products prohibited
5. Producing and/or trading pharmaceuticals, pesticides, herbicides, chemicals and ozone depleting substances subject to international phase outs or bans
6. Producing, trading and/or using unbounded asbestos fibres

Construction

1. Construction companies

Defence

1. Producing, selling and/or distributing controversial weapons and/or elements of the core weapon system. The following weapons are considered controversial: Cluster weapons, nuclear weapons, depleted uranium weapons, anti-personnel mines, biological weapons, chemical weapons, white phosphorus weapons and fully autonomous weapons
2. Providing private security services in countries that are defence-sensitive without the company being member of the International Code of Conduct Association (ICOCA)
3. Selling small arms and light weapons (SALW) to private sector in countries without gun control laws or countries that are defence-sensitive
4. Weapons of war, automatic weapons, ammunitions or defence equipment

Employment Agencies

1. Providing employment agency services by agencies that are not certified - or in the process of becoming certified - by the Stichting Normering Arbeid (SNA) and – if they provide housing to migrant workers – the Stichting Normering Flexwonen (SNF). Employment agencies that do not operate on the Dutch market should provide evidence that they comply with the same material standards

Energy

1. Controversial methods of energy production, such as drilling in the arctic, shale gas extraction and oil extraction from tar sands
2. Exploration and processing of tar sand, the transportation of tar sand oil and the construction of pipelines dedicated to tar sand oil
3. New coal-fired power plants. Generation of electricity from thermal coal
4. Stand-alone project finance of nuclear power plants

Entertainment

1. Dating

Finance

1. Binary Options and/or speculation financial products platforms
2. Credit granting by non-deposit taking finance houses and other
3. Credit repair, Debt Restructuring, Debt recovery, Debt settlement, Debt Collections, Factoring, Debt consolidation/management
4. Crowdfunding, crowdlending and assimilate activities
5. Cryptocurrencies
6. Downstream/Nested relationship
7. Unregulated investment companies involved in managing or investing own- or third-party funds

General exclusions

1. Activities causing adverse human rights impacts
2. Activities resulting in conversion or degradation of protected areas or critical habitats
3. Activities resulting in the infringement of the rights of indigenous and/or vulnerable groups without their Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC)
4. Any industry known to be an illegal industry in its local jurisdiction or in the EEA
5. Bidding fee auctions and penny auctions
6. Cash Business
7. Holding companies of private individuals
8. Legal Entities owned via Nominal Ownership / Bearer Shares
9. Operating businesses that require a license or special permit without obtaining such license (i.e. Unregulated Auction Houses)
10. Sanctioned individuals
11. Shell banks and shell companies
12. Trading of plant or animal species, or products thereof, in violation of CITES
13. Cheque encashment and small loan services
14. Groups, legal bodies or similar subject to international sanctions or embargoes
15. Transactions involving Human Organs

Health Care

1. Any business involved with Cannabidiol “CBD”/ ilegal drugs
2. Drugs and pharmaceuticals (legal)

High value goods

1. Precious metals and stones, arts and antiques, sale of vehicles or other merchants dealing with high value goods

Marketing

1. Affiliate Marketing schemes, including Network Marketing, Referral Marketing, Multilevel Marketing, Pyramid schemes
2. Selling, hosting, distributing, producing or promoting offensive materials, including materials that incite or promote racial hatred or discrimination based on gender, race, religion, national origin, physical ability, sexual orientation, or age

Mining

1. Acquisition or building of thermal coal mines
2. Commercial large scale deep sea mining beyond exclusive economic zones
3. Mining and/or trading rough diamonds which are not certified according to the Kimberley Process
4. Mountaintop removal
5. Other activities

Other activities

1. Discount/prepaid telephone cards
2. Genetically modified organisms
3. Massage parlours
4. Pawnbrokers, Pawn shops and salvage yards
5. Striking of coins
6. Weight loss products