Supply Chain

Basic policy

As a company that develops diverse businesses globally, protecting supply chains is a fundamental concept that serves as the foundation of our management and reflects our corporate philosophy of “Living and prospering together with people, society, and the planet, we aim to be a value-generating corporation that contributes to the creation of prosperous societies.

The Toyota Tsusho Group has formulated the Supply Chain Sustainability Behavioral Guidelines, disseminates the guidelines to suppliers, and asks them to put the guidelines into practice. In addition, we strive to assess risks and identify issues through due diligence, and if issues are identified, we work to make improvements through dialogue with suppliers.
Going forward, we will make efforts to build a sustainable supply chain that takes human rights, labor environments, and the natural environment into consideration together with our suppliers.

Toyota Tsusho Group Supply Chain Sustainability Behavioral Guidelines

I.Supply Chain Sustainability Behavioral Guidelines

  1. 1Respect for human rights
    • We understand and support the "Toyota Tsusho Group Human Rights Policy," and will strive to put it into practice.
    • We will respect the human rights of employees and will never subject employees to inhumane treatment, such as abuse, physical punishment, or harassment.
  2. 2Prevention of forced labor, child labor, and unreasonably low wage labor
    • We do not tolerate any form of modern slavery, we prohibit forced labor and we recognize that all work is voluntary. Additionally, we guarantee the right of employees to freely terminate their employment.
    • We do not tolerate child labor and do not allow children to work from a young age as it deprives them of educational opportunities and impedes their development.
    • The working age for employees shall be from 15 years old, or the minimum working age according to the relevant laws and regulations of each country, or the age at the end of compulsory education, whichever is the greatest, will apply.
    • For hazardous work, we do not utilize employees under the age of 18.
    • We will appropriately manage employees' working hours (including overtime), holidays and leave, and strive to reduce excessively long working hours. In addition, we will pay wages that exceed the living wage in compliance with the labor laws of each country and will not reduce wages unreasonably.
    • We allow labor in the form of vocational training and apprenticeships only within the scope permitted by the applicable laws and regulations of each country.
  3. 3Elimination of discrimination
    • We do not discriminate on the grounds of gender, age, nationality, race, skin color, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, disability, political views, etc. in any employment situation.
  4. 4Respect for freedom of association
    • We recognize the right of employees to freely associate or not to associate based on applicable laws and regulations of the countries in which we are engaged in business activities.
    • We guarantee the right of employees to communicate openly and directly with management without fear of retaliation, intimidation, or harassment.
  5. 5Improvement of working environment
    • We will strive to provide a safe, hygienic and healthy work environment, especially by prioritizing employee health and safety.
  6. 6Fair trade and anti-corruption
    • We will comply with all relevant laws and international rules and will ensure that our trading activities are fair and thoroughly prevent corruption.
  7. 7Ensuring quality and safety
    • We will ensure the quality and safety of our goods and services.
  8. 8Consideration of the global environment
    • We understand and support the "Toyota Tsusho Group Environmental Policy" and will strive to put it into practice.
    • We will carry out environmental conservation activities, review them through establishment of an environmental management system, and aim for continuous improvement by demonstrating our creativity.
    • We will give maximum consideration to climate change by promoting reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and achieving carbon neutrality.
    • We will save resources and energy and improve our utilization efficiency.
    • We will use water efficiently and reduce our water usage in water-stressed areas.
    • We will work to prevent and reduce environmental pollution and strive to reduce the burden on the environment.
    • We will actively promote proper disposal and effective use of waste and resource protection in compliance with the laws and regulations of each country and region and work to reduce waste while contributing to the realization of a circular economy based society.
    • We will work to realize a sustainable society in which people and nature coexist based on the recognition that biodiversity is a prerequisite for our continued corporate activities.
    • We will consider forest conservation and aim to use forest resources in a sustainable manner.
  9. 9Contribution to local communities
    • We will protect the rights and lifestyles of local communities and contribute to those communities as a member thereof.
  10. 10Information disclosure
    • We will disclose information related to the matters listed above in a timely and appropriate manner.

II.Monitoring

We will deepen communication with our suppliers and conduct regular surveys of our suppliers in order to understand the status of compliance with these guidelines. Further, we will visit suppliers to confirm activities on site as we deem necessary based on the activity area and business content.

III.Response to Compliance Violations

If you have become aware of any violation of these Guidelines, please report to us promptly and work to make improvements. We may reconsider our transactions with your company if we do not observe appropriate efforts to make improvements.

Dissemination of the Supply Chain Sustainability Behavioral Guidelines

In 2012, Toyota Tsusho formulated the Supply Chain CSR Behavioral Guidelines to foster a common understanding of sustainability, coordinate CSR initiatives, and realize mutual sustainable growth with suppliers. These guidelines were revised in 2019 and 2022 to clarify the common understanding we have with our suppliers in response to the increased awareness of human rights and environmental issues.
In the 2022 revision, we mainly clarified our stance on human rights and the environment further as well as changed the name of the guidelines to the Supply Chain Sustainability Behavioral Guidelines. The contents of the guidelines have been reported to the Board of Directors meeting.
In line with the 2022 revision, we have notified approximately 6,000 of our suppliers as well as domestic and overseas consolidated subsidiaries of these guidelines and asked them to disseminate these guidelines and put them into practice. We will continue to update the content of these guidelines as appropriate in response to changes in the external environment.

Contract Provision

In June 2022, we added a sustainability clause to the template of our Basic Sale and Purchase Agreement. The sustainability clause, which requires suppliers to comply with our Human Rights Policy, Environmental Policy, and Biodiversity Guidelines in line with our Supply Chain Sustainability Behavioral Guidelines, is used in this agreement.

Pre-investment and loan investigations

For new investment and loan projects, we investigate the impact that the business will have on the environment and social.

Supply Chain Survey

The Toyota Tsusho Group is building a global supply chain; in order to promote business activities that reflect our concerns for human rights, occupational safety and health, the environment, and other fields of risk across our entire supply chain, we have established the Toyota Tsusho Supply Chain Sustainability Behavioral Guidelines. Available in Japanese, English, and Chinese, we share the Behavioral Guidelines with our business partners; we also conduct questionnaires and on-site surveys as part of our supply chain management.

With regard to suppliers who breach our Behavioral Guidelines, we try to understand the reasons for the breach and the present conditions, offer corrective advice and solutions, and ask them for their understanding and compliance in the future.

Business fields, nations and regions that repre-sent risks in term of our supply chain are identified

A questionaire is conducted based on the Toyota Tsusho Supply Chain Sustainability Behavioral Guidelines.

A number of suppliers taking the questionaire are chosen for onsite suveys to uphold the human rights and OS&H guidelines.

Result of questionaire and onsite surveys are verlfied.

We will seek understanding and compliance of suppliers who violate the Guidelines and work together to improve. If improvement is not possible, we may consider suspension of transactions.

Human Rights Due Diligence for the Supply Chain

Referring to the United Nations’ Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, we are conducting human rights due diligence covering the supply chain based on the opinions of internal and external experts. We conduct risk assessments in the supply chain, conduct questionnaires of suppliers in high-risk fields and regions, and conduct on-site surveys by a third-party specialized organization to identify, prevent, and mitigate adverse impacts on human rights.

In the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, we conducted a risk assessment of approximately 6,000 suppliers in our group and identified approximately 250 suppliers in fields and regions with high human rights risks.
As of July 2024, we are in the process of questinnnaire surveying approximately 250 suppliers in turn. And four of the approximately 250 suppliers have completed on-site surveys.
We did not discover any serious problems requiring an immediate response from those results.
However, during the on-site surveys, concerns were identified in terms of health and safety management. We have also checked the prompt improvement measures and countermeasures taken by our suppliers on problems raised as concerns at the time of the survey. And we will continue to promote remedial measures through dialogue with suppliers.

[Main survey items]
1. Forced labor 6. Abuse and harassment
2. Child labor 7. Working hours
3. Safe and healthy working environment 8. Suitable remuneration
4. Freedom of association 9. Anti-corruption
5. Discrimination 10. Sustainable sourcing

Environmental Due Diligence for Supply Chains

Similar to human rights due diligence, we have initiated efforts to address environmental due diligence within our supply chain. In the fiscal year ended March 2024, we began holding explanatory sessions for our major suppliers in Japan to inform them about our environmental policies. Moving forward, we will expand the scope of these sessions to include more suppliers and conduct on-site investigations based on the level of risk involved.

-Initiatives for the Fiscal Year Ended March 2016: Supply Chain Survey Report-

We conducted questionnaires and on-site surveys of suppliers in the apparel industry in fields with high human rights risks. As a result, we did not find any serious human rights issues that require immediate actions.

<Confirmation of Human Rights Initiatives>

We confirmed that when hiring, personnel managers work to comply with laws and regulations by, for example, checking IDs to ensure everyone hired is at least 18 years old, that a plant offers programs for maternity leave and reduced work hours, and that the company shows concern for employee work-life balance.

<Safety-Related Initiatives>

Plants pays attention to worker safety, requiring that workers operating cutting machines wear metal safety gloves to prevent accidents. In quality control, we confirmed that defective products result in a recall, followed by a meeting of a plant’s quality committee to determine the cause, and that customers are then provided with a report.

<Environmental Initiatives>

Offices and plant premises are clean, and even warehouse space is well-organized. We confirmed that paper and fabric scraps leftover from cutting patterns and cloth are recycled as part of a plant’s environmental initiatives.

Grievance Mechanism

Consultation Desk for Supply Chains

Toyota Tsusho is a regular member of the Japan Center for Engagement and Remedy on Business and Human Rights (JaCER), which provides the “Engagement and Remedy Platform” in accordance with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. This platform allows any stakeholder in the supply chain to report violations or suspected violations of international and national codes of conduct. By accepting grievances through third-party channels, we strive to ensure fairness and transparency, promote dialogue and redress more than ever, and remedy identified affected parties. When receiving reports, we ensure the anonymity of the person making the report and the confidentiality of the report.

Related Links

Periodic updates of information in response to the report through JaCER, including the nature of the report and its status, will be disclosed on the website of JaCER while ensuring the anonymity of whistleblowers.

Establishment of an Inquiry Page for Sustainability

Establishment of an Inquiry Page for Sustainability We have established a system to accept opinions and requests from suppliers through an inquiry page on our website. The opinions and requests we receive are shared with the relevant departments within the company through a specialized organization and are linked to initiatives aimed at solving issues.

Related Links

Education, Training, and Awareness

Supply Chain Management Education, Training, and Awareness

We have been conducting e-learning for all employees, as all employees may be involved in purchasing. In 2019, we conducted e-learning on supply chain management for all employees to raise employee awareness of environmental and human rights considerations throughout the supply chain. It was taken by more than 3,000 Toyota Tsusho employees. In 2020, we conducted e-learning on sustainability overall, including content related to our human rights policy and respect for human rights. It was taken by approximately 3,100 Toyota Tsusho employees. In 2022, we held a briefing session on our sustainability activities and supply chain management for sustainability officers of our overseas consolidated subsidiaries, and some consolidated subsidiaries held study sessions on human rights. In 2023, we held e-learning on human rights due diligence for all employees in advance of promoting human rights due diligence covering the supply chain. It was taken by approximately 3,100 Toyota Tsusho employees.

After receiving training on social and environmental issues from the Sustainability Management Group, our sales personnel subsequently hold study sessions for suppliers on the Toyota Tsusho Group Supply Chain Sustainability Behavioral Guidelines and Environmental Policy.
A Practical Safety Workshop handling safety management has been established at Toyota Steel Center Co., Ltd., one of our group companies, in response to a request from the Global Safety & Environmental Promotion Department. The Workshop is open to our group companies as well as our suppliers. With this initiative, we strive to eliminate industrial accidents throughout our supply chains.

External Collaboration

Initiatives at NovaAgri

Nova Agri (Brazil), our group company engaged in grain originations and infrastructure business, is committed to sustainable grain procurement.
To ensure sustainability throughout its supply chain, the company uses remote sensing technology and geographic information systems to monitor the farmland where the grain it collects is produced, and carefully selects suppliers by matching its own database of farmers with information on environmental violations published by government agencies and other organizations.

Participation in the Moratória da Soja (Soy Moratorium)

NovaAgri participates in Moratória da Soja, an initiative launched by the Associação Brasileira das Indústrias de Óleos Vegetais (ABIOVE) and the Associação Nacional dos Exportadores de Cereais (ANEC) that aims not to procure soy produced in areas that were illegally deforested in the Amazon biome as a member of ANEC. Its performance is highly rated in third-party audits.

2BSvs Certification

2BSvs certification is the European standard certification for sustainable biomass and biofuels.
NovaAgri obtained 2BSvs certification in May 2022 and started sales of its grain as grain produced and collected in an environmentally friendly manner.

The main conditions for certification and control items are as follows

  • Farmers must be located within 10 km of an Amazonian protected area (including indigenous residential areas).
  • Compliance with the above-mentioned "Moratória da Soja(Soy Moratorium )" , or forced labor, and other rules.
  • Reports on the history of herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, seeds, fertilizers, diesel, and electricity used in the cultivation.

Procurement of Sustainable Palm Oil

We joined the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in May 2015. We are promoting the procurement of sustainable palm oil with consideration for environmental impacts by participating in meetings and briefings.

Fairtrade Initiatives

We are working to supply uniforms made of Fairtrade certified cotton as a trade system that aims to improve the lives of producers and workers in developing countries and help them become independent.