In all its business activities in and outside Japan, Ono Pharmaceutical Group understands and respects the human rights of each individual in terms of diversity of values, personalities, and characteristics, and we act accordingly. At Ono, we also uphold and respect the International Bill of Human Rights, the ILO 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 Ono Pharmaceutical Group to fulfill its responsibility to respect the human rights of its stakeholders, we apply this ONO Pharmaceutical Human Rights Global Policy to all executive officers and employees of the 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 was disclosed after obtaining the approval of the Board of Directors meeting held in March 2023.
We also consider that respect for human rights by employees is a foundation of business activities, and thus includeed respect for human rights in the ONO Group Code of Conduct, which all the group’s employees should follow as a guideline in their daily operational activities.
In addition, considering further development of our global business activities, we have revised the Procurement Activities Basic Policy and established the Sustainable Procurement Code for ONO's Business Partners in which we explain the matters concerning global human rights issues, such as forced labor and child labor, for which we need cooperation from our business partners throughout the entire supply chain. With these, we are requesting cooperation of our business partners and strengthening collaboration with them.
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 that Ono's business activities may have in society. We will continue to implement the system, and will externally disclose the results as well as its progress.
In FY2022, we conducted an impact assessment of potential risks to human rights (human rights risk assessment) in our group and value chain in collaboration with the Caux Round Table (CRT Japan Committee) and specified our priority human rights themes to address intensively.
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 held a two-day human rights due diligence workshop with 25 participants in total from relevant departments to find out themes and areas with high potential human rights risks and to identify our risks.
In the workshop, we considered social requirements and changes, and listed out potential human rights issues that may have impacts on our business and that may occur among rights holders or anywhere in the value chain.
As a result of the assessment we conducted on the potential human rights issues that are of concern identified through the desktop survey and the human rights due diligence workshop, it turned out that there were some issues for which the details of the risks were not known to us. We are currently working together with our group companies and business partners to grasp the actual status regarding the two issues mentioned below. In addition, while implementing preventive and corrective actions as necessary, we are also working to establish a system in which high priority human rights issues and potential future human rights issues can be promptly recognized.
In FY 2023, based on the themes identified in FY2022, we first checked the status regarding labor contracts and work environments for diverse workers in the supply chain. In particular, we focused on printing companies because printing is one of the industries in Japan that are highly likely to employ foreign workers using Japan's foreign technical intern training system. We conducted a survey of each of the printing companies who are our major suppliers to check the actual status of foreign workers. At one of the companies, we interviewed the managers/supervisors of technical intern trainees to confirm the employment status, as well as the status of respect for human rights of technical intern trainees. As a result, we confirmed that there were no negative impacts on the human rights of technical intern trainees at that company. We will continue our efforts to grasp the actual situation of foreign workers in fields other than printing companies as well.
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 the abovementioned companies knowingly profited from forced labor at Brightway Holdings, a rubber glove manufacturer and supplier in Malaysia.
In response to a report on this fact by the CRT Japan Committee, we conducted an investigation through our agents because we had 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, had no longer handled Brightway's products, and is conducting third-party audits regularly with all their 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 and may also consider the possibility of using substitutes.
While encouraging each employee to deepen their understanding and acquire correct knowledge regarding human rights, we are striving to create comfortable work environments through training on human rights awareness and other various programs for all the employees aiming to prevent human rights violations including various forms of harassment.
We have set up internal and external points of contact for reporting and consultation, including the ONO Hotline, which is open 24/7. The aim of this effort is to prevent the occurrence and recurrence of compliance violations, including harassment, to secure an appropriate work environment, and to minimize loss and erosion of public trust by taking swift action and measures in the event of a violation. Please click here for details of our internal reporting and consultation system.