Responsible Supply Chain

Because Panasonic Group believes that “a company is a public entity of society”, we engage in fair and equitable transactions with our global suppliers. With a need for a more stringent sense of moderation and ethics and to maintain healthy relationships with suppliers, in 2004, we released our Clean Procurement Declaration and have followed this declaration in our procurement activities since. In Japan, we promote understanding and awareness of “clean procurement” among our procurement staff by providing annual e-Learning and training materials.

The Group established “Rules on Gift and Hospitality for AntiBribery / Anti-Corruption” in its internal regulations, applied at the global level. These strict rules apply to the acceptance of gifts, meals, entertainment and travel invitations from our business partners, including suppliers. They stipulate general rules regarding the rationality and balance in light of the purpose, value and frequency of gifts, meals, entertainment and travel invitations, and local customs, and the absence of improper influence on business judgement. More detailed standards and stricter rules are also set for each region.

We, the Panasonic Group, require that suppliers affirm the Panasonic Group’s Code of Ethics & Compliance and the Panasonic Group’s Human Rights and Labor Policy, and at the start of transactions for materials and components for the manufacturing of Panasonic products, we make it mandatory to conclude a Master Global Purchasing Agreement that stipulates compliance with the CSR Guidelines. In addition, we stipulate in the CSR Guidelines a respect for human rights as expressed in United Nations norms and principles, an evaluation of the status of suppliers’ human rights initiatives and the implementation of prevention / mitigation / corrective measures, a request for compliance with tier 2 suppliers, and a request for cooperation with the Panasonic Group’s human rights due diligence. Since establishing the CSR Guidelines in 2016, we have distributed them to suppliers for awareness and dissemination and have initiated the CSR Self-Assessments described below. In the revised template of the Group’s Master Global Purchasing Agreement, effective as of April 2022, we have mandated that our suppliers comply with these CSR Guidelines. We also aim to ensure that all suppliers make commitments without exception, so we began asking existing suppliers to submit compliance agreements after revising the CSR Guidelines in December 2022. As of now, over 90% of our suppliers have submitted their agreements.

To promote human rights due diligence and other aspects of CSR throughout the supply chain, the Group requires its suppliers to conduct CSR Self-Assessments.

The CSR Self-Assessments are structured based on the CSR Guidelines, and we require that all new suppliers conduct the assessments before we start transactions with them. We also require our existing suppliers to conduct them regularly.

We conduct CSR Self-Assessments using a web-based questionnaire, which reduces the burden on suppliers and the Group, and improves collection efficiency and response accuracy. As of March 31, 2025, we have collected responses from more than 12,300 suppliers, representing 98% of the intended respondents. After identifying issues, particularly those identified as priority management items in the CSR Self-Assessments, such as labor conditions for migrant workers, we will visit suppliers, check on-site conditions, hold interviews, and investigate issues and work to correct them. We will continue to collect these assessments from our suppliers on a regular basis.

Since April 2022, the Group has begun work on initiatives to build a structure for human rights due diligence. While incorporating guidance from outside experts, the Group has compiled a table to assess human rights risks at our suppliers by using risk indicators and indices provided by international organizations in order to identify suppliers for which action should be taken on a priority basis.

Each operating company narrowed down the audit targets from among these identified suppliers based on the aforementioned risk approach and conducted supplier audits using the supplier audit plans they formulated. Since fiscal 2024, they have conducted audits for a total of 271 suppliers (22 of which were audited by third-party organizations). In fiscal 2026, we aim to complete audits of suppliers that require the highest priority.

The items identified through audits are shown in the table below. We have asked suppliers to improve these items, and we are monitoring their progress.

The Group is a member of the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) and promotes responsible business conduct. We also participate in the Sustainable Procurement Partnership Initiative Task Force under the Responsible Supply Chain Working Group of the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA) CSR Committee, promoting human rights due diligence throughout the industry’s supply chain, including our suppliers. We also pursue industry collaboration to enhance awareness of and improve investigation efficiency in minerals procurement through our participation in JEITA’s Responsible Minerals Trade Working Group. Specifically, we are collaborating with domestic and international industry associations to promote proper initiatives for responsible mineral procurement through seminars, investigative briefings, and thorough reviews of smelting and refining plant information. Moreover, the Group has been involved in the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI) since 2017 to learn about the latest industry trends and promote best practices in procurement.

Responsible minerals survey requires cooperation from all our suppliers going back to the refineries and smelters. Panasonic Group uses industry-standard survey forms issued by RMI to conduct surveys, including the tin-tantalum-tungsten-gold (3TG) survey form (CMRT) and the cobalt-mica survey form (EMRT).

The Panasonic Group conducts surveys regarding responsible minerals on the suppliers of each operating company and business site. In fiscal 2025, we collected responses from 1,470 of 1,508 suppliers that we asked to conduct CMRT surveys and 1,534 of 1,581 suppliers that we asked to conduct EMRT surveys (as of March 31, 2025; excludes surveys conducted by Panasonic Automotive Systems Co., Ltd.). Based on the data collected from the survey forms, we conducted a risk analysis and assessment and requested further investigations from suppliers, according to the risks that we identified.

In fiscal 2025, roughly 60% of the designated refiners and smelters had Conformant/Active Smelter status (refiners and smelters that have either passed RMI audit or is currently undergoing one). We are also working on industry efforts that will push the remaining 40% of those refiners and smelters toward participation in the Responsible Minerals Assurance Process (RMAP). In the rare event that we find minerals that are complicit in conflicts or human rights violations in our supply chain, we also ask suppliers to take steps toward no longer using them, including changing their source.

Recent years have brought growing societal expectations that companies will responsibly source the raw materials used in batteries. In August 2023, the EU Battery Regulation (Regulation 2023/1542) came into effect. In response, the Group is conducting due diligence on environmental and social risks in the battery supply chain, as required by the EU Battery Regulation.

In fiscal 2025, we sought advice from external experts to deepen our understanding of these requirements. Furthermore, we received support from external organizations to conduct investigations with due consideration to the target companies’ business confidentiality and competitive concerns. We identified the chain of custody for the four target materials, assessed the risk levels of the entire battery supply chain, and collaborated with business partners (including parts and materials suppliers, manufacturing contractors, trading companies, and logistics companies within the battery supply chain) to evaluate their environmental and social risks and risk management systems. We plan to promote initiatives based on future guidelines for battery due diligence.