Responsible Supply Chain

Since Brother Industries, Ltd. (BIL) joined the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) in January 2019, we have been strengthening our supply chain risk assessment and the implementation system for corrective actions based on the assessment results in the areas of labor, health and safety, environment, ethics, and management systems, including respect for human rights, as stated by the RBA in its Code of Conduct. Brother Industries (Vietnam) Ltd. conducted a self-assessment based on RBA requirements together with its suppliers. In 2022, it became the first manufacturing facility of the Brother Group to undergo an on-site audit by the RBA and attained RBA Gold certification. The Brother Group continues to implement activities such as the above to ensure compliance with RBA requirements at its manufacturing facilities, and is expanding the number of facilities subject to self-assessment according to the business risks at each manufacturing facility.

The Brother Group makes its "Procurement Policy" and "CSR Procurement Standards" publicly available and shares its CSR procurement concept with parts and materials suppliers. The policy and standards cover a wide range of fields, including human rights and labor, the rights to organize and bargain collectively, safety and health, global environmental protection, fair trade and ethics, product quality and safety, raw materials, information security, and social contribution. The Brother Group complies with local laws and regulations and supports workers' collective bargaining rights by conducting collective negotiations and respecting communication between management and employees on working conditions and management practices.

In addition, the Brother Group is also implementing initiatives for the responsible procurement of minerals, such as conducting a mineral procurement survey and establishing a working group to confirm that mineral resources that are mined in conflict-affected and high-risk areas^*, and may be involved in violation of human rights, violation of labor rights, environmental degradation, etc. are not used.

Furthermore, the Brother Group has established and is implementing the "CSR Procurement Level-up Program." We explain the "CSR Procurement Standards" and the "RBA Code of Conduct" to our suppliers, request their compliance with the standards, as well as ask them to sign consent forms. We also request that suppliers regularly cooperate by partaking in our CSR questionnaire and a questionnaire survey on slave (forced) labor with the goal of preventing forced labor, and confirm the status of the shared "Procurement Policy" and "CSR Procurement Standards." We then request suppliers for improvements based on the results of risk assessment using the CSR questionnaire, and audit the progress of the improvements.

• Conflict-affected and high-risk areas: areas with a high risk of armed conflict, violence, and human rights violation

• Japanese version of the procurement policy and standards

• Chinese version of the procurement policy and standards [PDF/480KB]

A part of the minerals (tantalum, tin, gold and tungsten, cobalt, mica, etc.) mined in conflict-affected and high-risk areas, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo and adjoining countries are some sources of funds for local armed groups, and there are concerns that transactions for such minerals may promote conflicts and involve matters such as human rights violations, labor issues and environmental degradation problems.
In promoting management with an emphasis on sustainability, the Brother Group recognizes the human rights violation, labor rights violation, environmental degradation, etc. in mining and trade of those minerals as important social issues.
To implement responsible procurement of minerals, the Brother Group carries out surveys on the use of aforementioned conflict minerals and will steadily undertake efforts toward ensuring transparency of mineral procurement in the supply chain and avoiding the use of conflict minerals while cooperating with suppliers.

To promote responsible procurement of minerals across the Brother Group's entire supply chain, we are undertaking the following initiatives according to a five-step framework based on the "Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas" issued by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

For the Brother Group’s approach to the responsible procurement of minerals, we have examined systems and methods to engage in the responsible procurement of minerals since 2014 and have been carrying out conflict minerals surveys on tantalum, tin, gold, and tungsten (3TG) targeting suppliers since 2016. Currently, we have established a working group overseen by the Executive Officer in charge of CSR, in which related business units including those in charge of purchasing, law, and CSR affairs participate, as well as the "Work Standard" for mineral procurement surveys to practice the responsible procurement of minerals in a comprehensive manner. In addition, training is conducted for members in the working group and staff in the procurement and quality control departments responsible for the survey on the responsible procurement of minerals to improve their understanding of our mineral procurement survey initiatives.

The Brother Group has been carrying out a mineral procurement survey once a year targeting suppliers that supply materials or parts used in the Group's products. In this survey, the Group uses the Conflict Minerals Reporting Template (CMRT) provided by the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI)*1 to verify the content of the target minerals, identify smelters or refiners (SOR) in the supply chain of the Brother Group, and confirm the state of efforts made by each supplier toward the responsible procurement of minerals. Based on the information on SORs included in the Brother Group's supply chain identified as a result of the survey and other information, we conduct a risk assessment for each supplier.

Based on the results of risk assessment, we ask suppliers that use SORs expected to be of concern to take appropriate responses, including requiring suppliers to conduct reconfirmation of SOR and avoid use of SORs with concerns.
Furthermore, the Brother Group also requests that suppliers understand the Group’s stances through means such as the CSR Procurement Standards and supplier explanatory meetings, and work on responsible procurement activities for minerals.

As a corporate member of RBA and RMI, Brother Group supports the Responsible Minerals Assurance Process (RMAP) audits conducted by RMI, and cooperates with the industry to improve activities regarding mineral procurement surveys, and promotes responsible mineral procurement on a global basis in its supply chain.

Brother Group's commitment to the responsible procurement of minerals is disclosed annually on our website and in the Integrated Report.

The Brother Group carried out the annual mineral procurement survey on 3TG in 2021 and obtained answers from more than 95% of the targeted suppliers. The Group will make ongoing efforts to obtain answers from all of such suppliers.
The Group also appropriately answered and dealt with inquiries from customers about the conflict minerals survey by means such as the submission of CMRT.

• List of Smelters or Refiners of Conflict Minerals[PDF/1.3MB]

The Brother Group has undergone Validated Assessment Program (VAP) audits by the RBA at its manufacturing facilities, and the following facilities that underwent VAP audits in 2022 met the required standards based on the RBA Code of Conduct (D. Ethics 7. Responsible Sourcing of Minerals).

1. Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI): An organization that promotes the responsible procurement of minerals globally in cooperation with companies.
2. Conflict-Free Smelter (CFS): Smelter or refinery that has been certified through audit as not using conflict minerals.

In FY2020, the Brother Group developed our CSR Procurement Level-up Program to improve CSR procurement at our suppliers. This program comprises the three steps given below, and repeatedly conducting these steps helps to improve the level of CSR procurement at each supplier.

Suppliers are requested to understand and comply with Brother's CSR Procurement Standards. Agreement by suppliers to promote activities is confirmed by obtaining their signatures on consent forms.

The state of compliance with the CSR Procurement Standards is confirmed through self-checks using the CSR questionnaire. Risk assessment of suppliers is conducted based on the responses to the CSR questionnaire.

Suppliers that have risks discovered as a result of the evaluation are requested to make improvements while communicating with them such as through meetings. The state of improvement is confirmed, and support for improvement activities are provided through means such as audits and monitoring.

This program is being deployed not only for existing suppliers but also new ones. For existing suppliers, based on the evaluation results about the state of compliance with the CSR Procurement Standards, areas of improvement are clarified for each supplier, the results are given as feedback to the suppliers, and they are requested to make improvements. For new transactions, compliance with the CSR Procurement Standards is confirmed so that CSR procurement is carried out even more steadily in the future. Through this program, the Brother Group seeks to further improve the level of CSR procurement together with suppliers.

STEP1: Understanding and agreement; Activities to promote awareness of the CSR Procurement Standards and the RBA Code of Conduct

CSR Procurement Standards supplementary explanation

In FY2020, we developed a supplementary explanation about the Brother Group's CSR Procurement Standards and started activities to get suppliers to sign consent forms. The supplementary explanation gives the background to the formulation of the CSR Procurement Standards, specifically stating clearly that it was developed with reference to the RBA Code of Conduct, and also states the requests and matters for cooperation being sought from suppliers. The supplementary explanation of the CSR Procurement Standards as well as consent forms were sent to suppliers within Japan and overseas to obtain their understanding about the Brother Group's CSR Procurement Standards, from which we received agreement from 480 suppliers. In addition, we also explain the CSR Procurement Standards when starting new transactions to obtain understanding and cooperation. These activities were continued in FY2021, with 630 suppliers giving their consent.
In addition, since FY2022, we have been conducting activities to request that suppliers at our manufacturing facilities (Printing & Solutions (P&S) Business) understand the RBA Code of Conduct and sign consent forms.

Supplier explanatory meetings

In April 2021, we held an explanatory meeting online for suppliers at P&S manufacturing facilities in Japan, China, Vietnam and the Philippines. There were 680 people from 380 companies that participated in the meeting. We worked to thoroughly make our CSR Procurement Standards common knowledge among our suppliers. In addition, at each of these meetings, we gave explanations to suppliers about the activities based on the CSR Procurement Level-up Program.
At the explanatory meetings, we requested that suppliers "fully comply with laws and ordinances," "comply with the CSR Procurement Standards," "revise the CSR questionnaire in FY2021," and take a "questionnaire survey on forced labor." In addition, we explained the fortification of risk management response while reviewing the handling of COVID-19. Suppliers that participated in the explanatory meetings voiced their consent of the Brother CSR Procurement Policy. These are some of the comments we received—"We recognized the importance of working environment and ethics in addition to the traditional aspects of environment, safety, and health as well as the necessity for activities across the supply chain;" "In global management, efforts toward CSR procurement will definitely improve the social position of companies and we will also consider our activity policy;" and "We think that Brother's CSR procurement efforts are extremely good activities for improving corporate value, and we will also actively cooperate in your activities."
In April 2022, we held similar online explanatory meetings at P&S production facilities in Japan, China, Vietnam, and the Philippines. In addition to the CSR Procurement Standards, we also explained the RBA Code of Conduct in the meetings in 2022, which were attended by 814 people from 478 companies.

Training sessions with suppliers

In FY2021, training sessions on the SDGs, the RBA Code of Conduct, and the CSR Procurement Standards were held in China and Vietnam, attended by a total of 282 people from 143 companies, with the aim of informing suppliers of the Brother Group's CSR procurement initiatives. In particular, the training sessions in Vietnam utilized online platforms to enable a greater number of suppliers to participate.

At the training session, the RBA Code of Conduct and the Brother Group's CSR Procurement Standards were explained, and group discussions were held on topics such as human rights and labor, where participants shared their insights on multiple topics and supplier cases.

During the group discussion, the suppliers shared the activities that are implemented at each company such as, "We have a policy on forced labor, which is posted on a bulletin board in the company." "Employees are given a booklet on human rights." and "We have an internal anonymous reporting system, which includes an opinion box and a hotline. The opinion box is checked once a week." Also, we received comments by the suppliers who participated in the training session such as, "Through the training session, I was able to better understand the RBA Code of Conduct, and I would like to share the information about the RBA with my employees," "The group discussion was informative as I learned about good practices from other companies." and "Brother's staff explained about RBA to us enthusiastically."

We will continue to promote the Brother Group's CSR Procurement Standards and RBA Code of Conduct to as many suppliers as possible through training sessions such as this and other efforts.

STEP2: Confirmation of compliance and assessment; Conduct of CSR questionnaire and risk assessment of suppliers

The Brother Group implements CSR questionnaire activities on a two-year cycle for suppliers in China, Vietnam and the Philippines, where the manufacturing facilities of the P&S are located. In FY2020, we revised our CSR questionnaire to confirm the state of compliance with the CSR Procurement Standards and RBA Code of Conduct at our suppliers. The revised CSR questionnaire comprises questions in the five areas of labor, safety and health, the environment, ethics, and management systems, and the state of efforts at suppliers is confirmed through self-checks. For example, in the area of labor, the items being checked include the absence of forced labor and child labor and compliance with local labor laws and regulations.

In FY2021, we conducted a revised CSR questionnaire with 100 major suppliers in China and the Philippines to conduct a risk assessment. As a result, we identified nine high-risk suppliers.
Together with the CSR questionnaire, we also send questions about global environmental conservation to confirm the state of efforts at our suppliers regarding their activities to reduce greenhouse gases. We ask suppliers to provide numerical values, such as the greenhouse gas emissions produced by their company (in terms of CO₂-equivalent emissions) and the amount of water withdrawal. Some suppliers also set their reduction targets in these categories and report on the degree of achievement of the targets.

Evaluation criteria for CSR questionnaire

STEP3: Improvement activities and audits; Conduct of CSR procurement audits

Improvement activities at suppliers

We request improvement and review the results of improvement activities from suppliers that are found to have risks in the CSR questionnaire. In FY2021, we provided feedback on the evaluation results to all suppliers that completed the CSR questionnaire, and conducted individual interviews with suppliers according to the evaluation results, requesting improvement and reviewing the results of improvement activities from suppliers that were found to have risks. For those suppliers that were found to be at risk, we requested them to make improvements and confirmed the results.

CSR Procurement audit activities

Besides requesting improvements from suppliers with risks discovered through the CSR questionnaire, we have also built a system where the Brother Group auditors conduct CSR procurement audits on suppliers' manufacturing facilities and get them to rectify any nonconformities that are discovered. In FY2021, we conducted online audits of three of our nine suppliers identified as high risk based on the assessment results of the CSR questionnaire. One supplier in Vietnam and two suppliers in the Philippines were audited in the areas of labor, ethics, and health and safety, and were asked to take corrective action for areas of nonconformity.

Through these activities, the Brother Group seeks compliance with the Procurement Policy and CSR Procurement Standards together with our suppliers.

Aiming to further promote the CSR activities of its suppliers, the Brother Group has been conducting questionnaire surveys about their CSR efforts and, selecting and honoring excellent ones since 2015 at its two manufacturing factories of the Machinery business, including Kariya Factory and Brother Machinery Xian Co., Ltd.
In FY2020, questionnaire surveys were implemented from August to September 2020 in Japan and responses were received from a total of 63 supplier companies. In the questionnaire survey, emphasis was placed on confirming suppliers' degree of understanding about the SDGs and current conditions with the goal of further improving and reinforcing activities at suppliers going forward.
In China, questionnaire surveys on CSR activities were similarly implemented from September to October 2020. We received responses from 51 companies. Furthermore, we asked suppliers to submit examples of their CSR activities. Of the submissions we received from 32 companies, we selected and awarded six outstanding CSR companies. The award-winning suppliers actively conduct various activities—such as passionate development of employees and development of working environments as well as the promotion of business activities with consideration for the environment and social contribution activities for the local communities—and we shared them as outstanding examples.
The local audits on selected suppliers, which was conducted in FY2019, were not conducted to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The Brother Group continually strives to develop relations of mutual trust with its business partners and grow together with them to quickly deliver superior value to customers.