Glossary term

business partner

A regulatory term referring to an entity: (i) with which the company has a commercial agreement related to the operations.

1 official sourcessingle_source

What does business partner mean?

Business partner is part of the formal vocabulary used in supply-chain due diligence, adverse-impact governance, and corporate responsibility. For this glossary, the key point is understanding how the source defines the term and where that definition sits within broader compliance or data requirements.

Official definitions by source

CSDDD

Directive (EU) 2024/1760 on corporate sustainability due diligence

an entity: (i) with which the company has a commercial agreement related to the operations, products or services of the company or to which the company provides services pursuant to point (g) (‘direct business partner’); or (ii) which is not a direct business partner but which performs business operations related to the operations, products or services of the company (‘indirect business partner’);

Reference: Article 3, point f

View official source

Why it matters in practice

In practice, this term matters when mapping who is responsible for obligations, declarations, market placement, recordkeeping, or due-diligence steps within supply-chain due diligence, adverse-impact governance, and corporate responsibility.

Minespider commentary

For Minespider, business partner is best treated as a responsibility and workflow term. The important question is which actor, document, or compliance step the source is actually assigning through this definition.

Common confusions

  • Assuming the everyday meaning of business partner is enough without checking the official source definition.
  • Using business partner as a loose generic label rather than the narrower meaning used in the source text.
  • Confusing business partner with a neighboring legal actor or responsibility term without checking how the source allocates obligations.