Sysmex conducts CSR surveys in order to learn about its partners’ CSR activities. To survey existing partners, we use the CSR/Sustainable Procurement Self-Assessment Tool Set, which was developed by Global Compact Network Japan. The survey items range from human rights, labor practices, corruption, environment, and conflict minerals. Sysmex Corporation has been involved as a subcommittee member in the production of this tool and other types of output. We elect not to conduct business with new partners who have problems with their CSR initiatives. In addition to CSR surveys, we hold management interviews with new business partners. We undertake the same sort of initiatives for overseas partners. In particular, personnel in charge of procurement make local visits to determine the status of child labor and workplace environment in order to confirm that no problems exist.
The rate of response to the CSR survey of primary suppliers conducted in fiscal 2020 was 89%, and we also conducted follow-ups with four of our partners in response to risk analyses. Moreover, to further encourage our partners to engage in CSR activities, we checked with 13 primary suppliers identified as high-risk, regarding how they manage their secondary suppliers. Starting from fiscal 2021, we set the CSR survey response rate as a sustainability target. We have also added the number of training sessions provided to our partners as a sustainability target, and we use the response rate of the CSR survey of secondary suppliers in Japan and the percentage of primary suppliers with third-party certificates as indicators for monitoring.
Sysmex Europe surveys all new partners about their CSR activities that involve human rights and green procurement, and it annually evaluates existing partners. Sysmex Malaysia, Sysmex Wuxi, Jinan Sysmex, and Sysmex Shanghai, among others, also survey their partners each year to assess risks and make improvements.