In all of our business activities in and outside Japan, Ono Pharmaceutical Group understands and respects the human rights of each individual in terms of the diversity of values, personalities, and characteristics, and we act accordingly. We also uphold and respect the International Bill of Human Rights, the International Labour Organization's Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, conventions on the human rights of workers, such as wages and working hours, etc., the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and other international codes of conduct related to human rights, and the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact.
In July 2020, we established the ONO Pharmaceutical Human Rights Global Policy based on the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. In order for the Ono Pharmaceutical Group to fulfill our responsibility to respect the human rights of our stakeholders, the ONO Pharmaceutical Human Rights Global Policy applies to all executive officers and employees of our group, and we also encourage all of our business partners involved in the businesses, products, and services of Ono Pharmaceutical Group to comply with the policy. This Policy has been revised and disclosed after obtaining the approval of the Board of Directors meeting held in March 2023.
We also consider that respect of human rights by employees is a foundation of business activities and we include respect for human rights in the ONO Group Code of Conduct, which all employees should consider to be a guideline for their daily operational activities.
In addition, for the further development of our global business activities, we revised the Procurement Activities Basic Policy and established the Sustainable Procurement Code for ONO's Business Partners in which we compiled matters for our business partners to cooperate with concerning global human rights issues, such as forced labor and child labor, in the entire supply chain, asked for cooperation of our business partners, and are strengthening the collaboration.
We recognize that we may have adverse impacts on human rights directly or indirectly through our business activities. In accordance with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, we have established a human rights due diligence system to prevent or reduce adverse impacts on human rights Ono's business activities on society, will continue to implement the system, and will disclose the progress and results externally.
In FY2022, we conducted an impact assessment of potential risks to human rights (human rights risk assessment) in our group and value chain in cooperation with the Caux Round Table (CRT Japan Committee) and specified priority human rights themes that we will address in the future.
To identify these themes, we first conducted a desktop survey* to extract potential human rights risks associated with our business activities, throughout our value chain.
In addition, we also identified themes and areas with high potential human rights risks and held a human rights due diligence workshop to identify our risks. The human rights due diligence workshop was held for two days with 25 participants in total from relevant departments.
In the workshop, we considered the needs of society and social changes, and then we identified potential human rights issues that may have an impact on our business and that may occur among rights holders and the overall value chain.
As a result of assessment of potential human rights issues that are of concern through the desktop survey and human rights due diligence workshop, there were issues for which risks have not been identified in detail. We are currently collaborating with group companies and business partners to obtain an accurate grasp of the situation regarding the two issues mentioned below. In addition, we will implement preventive and corrective actions as well as establish a system where high priority human rights issues and potential future human rights issues can be promptly recognized.
In FY 2023, based on the themes identified in FY 2022,we first checked the situation regarding the conditions labor contracts and work environments for diverse workers in the supply chain. In particular, we focused on printing companies, one of the industries in Japan that is highly likely to employ foreign workers using Japan's foreign technical intern training system, and conducted a survey on each of our printing companies, one of our major suppliers, to ascertain the actual status of foreign workers. At one of the companies, we interviewed the were managers/supervisors of technical intern trainees to confirm the employment status, as well as the state of respect for the human rights of tschnical intern trainees. As a result, we confirmed that there were no negative impacts on the human rights of technical intern trainees at that company. In the future, we will continue our efforts to ascertain the actual situation of foreign workers in fields other than printing companies.
Please see here about our approach to supply chain
We have established a system to take action promptly for high priority human rights issues in cooperation with CRT Japan Committee.
In 2022, Kimberly-Clark Corp (U.S. company) and Ansell Ltd (Australian company) were sued by International Rights Advocates (IRA), a legal support group in Washington, D.C., on the grounds that they knowingly profited from forced labor at Brightway Holdings, a rubber glove manufacturing company and supplier in Malaysia.
In response to a report on this fact by the CRT Japan Committee, we investigated through our agents since we have purchased rubber gloves made by Brightway and sold by Kimberly-Clark. As a result, we confirmed that, as of the investigation date (September 15), Kimberly-Clark had discontinued transactions with Brightway, no longer handled Brightway's products, and is conducting third-party audits regularly with all outsourcing manufacturing companies. We determined that we would continue to use the products of Kimberly-Clark while watching the progress of the lawsuit and their actions, and if further concerns arise in the future, we will reexamine transactions with Kimberly-Clark, including the use of substitutes.
In addition to deepening each employee's understanding and acquisition of correct knowledge regarding human rights, we strive to create a comfortable work environment by conducting training and implementing other programs for all employees with the aim of preventing human rights violations such as various forms of harassment.
We have established internal and external points of contact for reporting and consultation (see the chart below), including the ONO Hotline, which is open 24 hours a day. The aim of this is to prevent the occurrence and recurrence of compliance violations, including harassment, to secure an appropriate work environment, and to minimize loss and the erosion of public trust by taking swift action and measures in the event of a violation. Please click here for details of the internal reporting and consultation system.