CSR

[ISO 26000 Core Subject] Fair Operating Practices

In the rapid globalization of business operations, companies are increasingly being required to fulfill their social responsibility in their procurement activities. In response, Fujikura Ltd. and Fujikura Group companies regularly hold a liaison meeting to foster group-wide CSR-oriented procurement activities. We also hold the Fujikura Group's partners' meetings to foster direct dialogue with suppliers and ask for their cooperation to promote CSR-oriented procurement across the supply chain.

The Fujikura Group runs its business with the support of its suppliers of materials, parts, and equipment. To build strong relationships of trust with these suppliers through fair, square, and sincere procurement, we formulated the Fujikura Group Basic Procurement Policy. In addition, we set the Code of Conduct for the Procurement Division to implement discipline in our procurement activities. Moreover, we regularly hold seminars for Group companies to learn about the Japanese Act against Delay in Payment of Subcontractor Proceeds, etc. to Subcontractors, and continue to implement various other compliance-related initiatives.

Global companies are required to fulfill their CSR across their supply chains. To meet this requirement.The Fujikura Group is proactively conducting activities to foster CSR-oriented procurement, including making a written request to suppliers based on the EICC Code of Conduct, conducting a questionnaire survey for supply chain management, and holding the Fujikura Group partners' meetings.

The Fujikura Group has been regularly conducting a questionnaire survey targeting major suppliers, with a view to identifying the CSR activities conducted across the supply chain for the better management of the chain. The survey results are fed back to suppliers to foster information sharing.

To promote and spread CSR-oriented procurement across the supply chain, the Fujikura Group has been fostering direct communication with suppliers through the Fujikura Group partners' meetings. We are thereby conducting CSR-oriented procurement across the supply chain, gaining understanding and cooperation from suppliers.We also held a partners' meeting in Shanghai, China to further globalize our supply chain activities.

We held the Fujikura Group Partners' Meeting 2014 at the head office of Fujikura Ltd. on May 17, 2014, with the participation of a range of suppliers. Company President Nagahama, Managing Executive Director Ishikawa, in charge of materials procurement, and General Manager Harada of the Procurement Division all attended the meeting to introduce Fujikura's history and CSR measures. They also asked participating suppliers to enhance mutual trust and support with the Fujikura Group, emphasizing that fostering CSR-oriented supply chain management is becoming a one of the Group's management priorities in the globalization of its business operations.

The Fujikura Group has a range of manufacturing and sales bases in China, and CSR-oriented supply chain management in the country is included in the important management themes of the Group. We therefore held a partners' meeting in Shanghai, China on December 22, 2014, inviting local suppliers.

The Fujikura Group CSR Committee has been examining measures to be taken by the Group regarding the issue of conflict minerals (gold, tin, tantalum and tungsten), which are minerals procured through inhumane acts in the Democratic Republic of Congo and surrounding countries and regions. In July 2010, following the enactment of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in the United States, which includes Section 1502 on conflict minerals, the CSR Committee decided to conduct a supply chain survey on the use of conflict minerals. The decision was made for the Fujikura Group to fulfill its social responsibility as a corporate group that maintains relations with the supply chains of companies registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), although none of the Fujikura Group companies themselves are registered with the Commission. Moreover, in August 2011, the CSR Committee established and announced the Fujikura Group Conflict Minerals Policy of not using conflict minerals procured through inhumane acts by armed forces (violation of human rights, forced labor and child labor) in the world’s largest armed conflicts occurring in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the neighboring countries and regions.

The Fujikura Group established an official working team on the issue of conflict minerals in time with the enactment of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in the United States in 2010. Through this working team, we established a Group system to deal with the issue, centralized reporting, and also set rules on the Group's responses to customers regarding this issue.

The following shows the major activities in fiscal 2014 that the Fujikura Group conducted regarding the issue of conflict minerals.