The Group's business is supported by business partners who supply raw materials, parts and equipment. Through fair and fair and sincere procurement activities, the Group has formulated the "Fujikura Group Procurement Basic Policy" in order to establish a solid relationship of trust with its business partners. In addition, we have established the Fujikura Group Procurement Purchasing Division Code of Conduct to strictly control our own actions. In addition, each group company in Japan participates and regularly conducts subcontract law sessions, and we are continuing our compliance efforts.
We also provide e-learning, subcontract law sessions, and other education for divisions involved in procurement and purchasing within the Group, perform regular operating audits, and implement other compliance initiatives.

With corporate activities becoming more global in nature, a company’s corporate social responsibilities are being called into question not only for itself but its entire supply chain.
We created the Fujikura Group CSR Procurement Guidelines in June 2016 to further understanding and implementation of CSR procurement by suppliers and revise the guidelines as society changes. The 4th version of these guidelines were revised in May 2019 to be compliant with RBA Guidelines.
The guidelines are published in multiple languages.

Six fields defined in the CSR Procurement Guidelines
A. Labor
B. Health and safety
C. Environment
D. Ethics
E. Management system
F. Additional Items
* The number of items in the CSR Procurement Guidelines increased from 34 (3rd edition) to 51 (4th edition)

The Fujikura group created the "Fujikura Group Statement on the Modern Slavery Act and Human Trafficking" in response the United Kingdom's Modern Slavery Act 2015. The Fujikura group understands that we must protect the human rights of all of the people effected by our business. To respect human dignity and internationally recognized human rights, we created a statement regarding efforts for the abolition of modern slavery and human trafficking.

With the globalization of companies speeding up today, the importance of social responsibilities in procurement activities continues to increase. Fujikura and the Fujikura Group regularly convenes internal meetings on CSR, which were held on two occasions in fiscal 2017. In addition, the theme of ESG has been increasing recently, such as the importance of human rights due diligence in the supply chain and information on climate change. These meetings lead to the strengthening of procurement staff.

In addition, the Fujikura Group Partners Meeting is held annually as a venue for direct dialogue with all suppliers. Through direct communication, we make efforts toward CSR procurement across the supply chain, including fostering understanding in CSR procurement of the Fujikura Group.

The Fujikura Group carries out investigations of supply chain management at procurement divisions of each Group company in order to identify and minimize risk in the supply chain. In fiscal 2018, we provided feedback based on the survey results and promoted improvements in our efforts. At the same time, as an initiative in human rights due diligence, we hold a study meeting with experts, identify priority issues based on the prepared report, and commence initiatives.

The Fujikura Group conducts a supply chain management survey regularly for major suppliers in order to understand the situation of their CSR activities in the supply chain. The results of the survey are shared with suppliers in the form of feedback. The survey covers the following matters.

In order to achieve an appropriate supplier structure by fairly and equally evaluating suppliers from the standpoint of quality, cost, delivery, development, and management, the Fujikura Group introduced a supplier assessment system in fiscal 2016. We are currently expanding the scope of our implementation, and we are building deeper partnerships with highly rated business partners.

The promotion and penetration of CSR procurement requires direct dialogue with suppliers. The Fujikura Group hosts the Fujikura Group Partners Meeting in Tokyo, Shanghai and Bangkok every year to obtain the understanding and cooperation of suppliers and work toward CSR procurement across the entire supply chain.

At the Partners Meeting, the Fujikura Group's management plan and procurement policy are explained to the business partners who participated, and through the distribution of CSR procurement guidelines, the business partners are encouraged to participate in the Fujikura Group's procurement activities. We ask for your understanding and cooperation.

In addition, from 2016, FETL in Thailand has selected suppliers that have received high acclaim in the supplier assesment system and commended them at the Partners meeting in Bangkok. We will build deeper partnerships by sharing best practices with our business partners.

In May, 2019, Fujikura Group established "Fujikura Group Policy for Responsible Mineral Sourcing".

In August, 2011, we set "Fujikura Group Policy for Non-Use of Conflict Minerals" in order to improve transparency in our supply chain. The revision this time is to respond to recent changes in social trend.
Regarding mineral procurement in conflict-affected and high-risk areas/countries, we recognize any risks and illegal acts including regional human right violations and labor problems as significant social issues, and promote responsible mineral sourcing in our entire supply chain.
We continue to strengthen our engagement in responsible mineral procurement through various measures including information sharing with our partners and affiliated companies. We would like to ask for our partners' understanding of our policy and cooperation to realize responsible mineral procurement.

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 that the Fujikura Group conducted regarding the issue of conflict minerals.

We participate in the supply chain subcommittee of the United Nations Global Compact Network Japan. In this subcommittee, companies from various industries and industries participate in activities aimed at solving CSR issues in the supply chain.
In addition, the “Useful Series” created by the subcommittee has been released, contributing to the promotion of CSR procurement by domestic companies other than participating companies.