Jump to section
View Sumitomo Corporation's Sustainability : Supply Chain Management
The Sumitomo Corporation Group has established the CSR Action Guidelines for Supply Chain Management. Through the implementation of these guidelines, we are aiming to realize a sustainable society by working together with our suppliers and business partners to achieve responsible value chain management. The Company provides numerous opportunities to promote the understanding and entrenchment of these guidelines, including training for new employees and locally hired employees, meetings within business units and domestic and overseas regional organizations, and pre-departure briefings with employees being sent on overseas assignments in order to promote sustainable supply chain management. We also share these guidelines with our suppliers and business partners and confirm their compliance as necessary.
In the event that we find violations of these guidelines in our supply chains, we will urge the suppliers, business partners or contractors, etc. to remedy and improve the situation, while providing support to them as needed. However, if there are no improvements to the situation by them, we will consider carefully whether to continue our business with them or not.
Established in November 2009
Revised in November 2013
The Sumitomo Corporation Group aims to be a global organization that, by constantly staying a step ahead in dealing with change, creating new value, and contributing broadly to society, strives to achieve prosperity and realize the dreams of all our stakeholders through sound business activities in strict adherence to our Corporate Mission Statement, and the management style principle contained therein, wherein prime importance is given to integrity and sound management with the utmost respect being paid to the individual.
In order to promote sustainability and social wellbeing in accordance with our mission, the Sumitomo Corporation Group hereby sets down these CSR Action Guidelines for Supply Chain Management. With a view to further strengthening the global relations which form one of the foundations of our core competence of integrated corporate strength, we request our suppliers and business partners to kindly accept, understand, and practice these guidelines so that together we can achieve responsible value chain management.
Our suppliers and business partners are expected to:
Interpretation of The Sumitomo Corporation Group CSR Action Guidelines for Supply Chain Management
To realize a sustainable society by working together with our suppliers and business partners, Sumitomo Corporation has established the CSR Action Guidelines for Supply Chain Management. We have also established specific policies for natural resource-related commodities requiring sustainable procurement.
Forest Management Policy
Sourcing Policy for Forest Products
Palm oil is the most produced vegetable oil in the world which is used in a wide variety of products and closely related to our lives. Meanwhile, we, the Sumitomo Corporation Group recognize that palm oil comes with various social and environmental risks especially in the upstream supply chain, as its raw material, oil palm, may be linked to the deforestation of valuable forests, damage to biodiversity and impact on a local community due to plantation development, and forced and child labor in some production process.
Therefore, in order to fulfill social responsibility with relevant stakeholders based on The Sumitomo Corporation Group CSR Action Guidelines for Supply Chain Management”, we strive to build a high transparent supply chain with our suppliers through being a member of RSPO* as a group.
Our consolidated subsidiaries SC Foods Co., Ltd., a trading company specializing in food products, and Summit Oil Mill Co., Ltd, an edible oil manufacturer, conduct a survey of the suppliers with an aim of confirming the existence of inherent problems in human rights in the supply chain. In addition, Summit Cosmetics Corporation, our consolidated subsidiary specializing in cosmetics-related products trade, also survey of the suppliers and request compliance with “The “Sumitomo Corporation Group CSR Action Guidelines for Supply Chain Management” which committed to the sustainable procurement of palm oil.
In monitoring social and environmental risks in each business, we confirm the supply chain based on the Sumitomo Corporation Group CSR Action Guidelines for Supply Chains, individual procurement policies, and laws and regulations.
The Dodd-Frank Act, which was enacted in July 2010, requires US-listed companies to trace the country of origin of minerals used in their products with in their supply chains to determine whether or not "conflict minerals“* produced in and around the Democratic Republic of the Congo are included. The results must be reported annually to the U.S.Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and disclosed on their websites. Such reporting is not mandatory for the Sumitomo Corporation Group itself because it is not US listed. However, if it is revealed that a conflict mineral is used by our partner company, our reputation could be harmed and it may affect customer selections. We therefore gather relevant information regularly and managed it unitarily.
We became an ordinary member of the RSPO in 2019. Further, our consolidated subsidiaries SC Foods Co., Ltd. And Summit Oil Mill Co., Ltd. obtained RSPO supply chain certification in 2021.
We obtain FSC (FSC-C016535) certification, an international forest management certification system, and provide customers with FSC-certified products mainly from our group-companies.
We obtain PEFC™ CoC certification, an international forest management.
In September 2019, we became the first Japanese company to obtain SBP certification for CoC (Chain-of-Custody) and Collection and Communication of data. SBP is a certification system providing assurance that woody biomass used in energy production is sourced from legal and sustainable sources.
We obtain ISCC PLUS, an international certification for bio-based products. This allows us to trade ISCC certified products. In addition, the following group companies have also obtained ISCC PLUS certification.
We are a member of the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI), the global aluminium industry organization. As an active participant in trading aluminium materials and products globally, we support ASI activities and standards across the global aluminium value chain.
EcoVadis provides a unique platform for assessing a company’s social and environmental sustainability performance. The following Sumitomo Corporation Group companies received EcoVadis Medals for their efforts.
Sumitomo Shoji Chemicals Co., Ltd. is mainly engaged in trading business of chemical and electronic products, which are involved in various industries and have a multitude of applications. The company confirms that each supplier of raw materials does not use conflict minerals, which are key funding sources for local armed groups, and appropriately manages chemical substances contained in their products in line with customer's demands, to make sure that no issues related to the environment and human rights have been reported. Sumitomo Shoji Chemicals is a member of Sedex, a nonprofit membership providing a world’s largest platform to manage and share ethical organization data within supply chains, with the aim of ensuring ethical and responsible business practices in global supply chains. The company has also passed the human rights and environmental audit of Sedex. Sumitomo Shoji Chemicals agrees on the Green Partner Environmental Quality Approval Program of its clients, whose objectives include the promotion of environmental protection. It also requires its suppliers of raw materials to agree on a green procurement program and other relevant programs and to comply with environment-related laws and regulations, and follows their implementation.
Feiler Japan Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Sumitomo Corporation, imports, plans, and sells products of the German textile brand “FEILER”, which features chenille fabrics. Feiler purchases all cotton yarns used for chenille fabrics from companies certified under OEKO-TEX® Standard 100*1, which meets international safety standards for textile products.
SC Foods Co., Ltd., a member of the Sumitomo Corporation Group, won the Silver Award in the Trader category at the first Fairtrade Japan Awards, announced in October 2023. This is an award sponsored by Fairtrade Label Japan, a specified non-profit organization, that honors and recognizes companies and organizations that have made outstanding achievements in promoting fairtrade in Japan. SC Foods was selected in recognition of its proactive import of fairtrade coffee and sesame seeds from around the world and its proactive actions to communicate the efforts being made in producing areas to manufacturers and consumers. The activities were considered as a significant contribution to the spread of fairtrade by serving as a bridge between producing areas and Japan.
SC Foods is constantly pursuing to distribute coffee that is not only delicious, but also contributes to a sustainable and rich future of food. Through the initiatives, SC Foods also aims to communicate the socially beneficial significance of the products. As part of this effort, SC Foods imports and sells fairtrade certified coffee, which is good for society and the global environment. Specifically, SC Foods collects detailed information from suppliers with whom we have built relationships over many years about how the fairtrade premium, which is paid based on the sales volume of fairtrade certified coffee, helps the production area. In addition to providing products to roasters and consumers who purchase our products, SC Foods also collaborates with fairtrade-related organizations both domestically and internationally to actively engage in activities to expand awareness and purchasing of fairtrade certification itself.
One example of fairtrade certified coffee SC Foods handles is Con Manos De Mujer (CMM: English name: WOMAN'S HAND). CMM certification was launched in 2010 by Mayacert S.A. together with the Asobagri cooperative with the aim of improving women's social status and economic environment. The premium added to the price of certified coffee is transformed into scholarships and medical expense subsidies, providing a platform for the female producers who belong to the cooperative to thrive and help them achieve self-realization.
SUMMIT, INC, a member of the Sumitomo Corporation Group that operates a supermarket business, handles marine products that have acquired MSC*1 and ASC*2 certification for some of its marine products for the purpose of sustainable procurement and environmental and social considerations.
Sumisho Realty Management Co., Ltd., a real estate asset management business of the Sumitomo Corporate Group, has identified seven material issues and is implementing initiatives to adapt to changing global trends, meet the expectations of stakeholders, and contribute toward a sustainable society. As a real estate management company, it also believes that incorporating ESG elements into its investment decisions and operational processes is essential for maximizing medium- to long-term value for investors. For this reason, it defines and implements basic policies toward ESG.
| Material Issues | Initiatives | |
|---|---|---|
| E |
|
|
|
|
|
| S |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| G |
|
|
|
|
|
SRM believes that it is indispensable as a real estate management company to include environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in investment decisions and management process for maximization of unitholder value over the medium to long term, and thus establishes the following basic policies on ESG and puts them into practice.
Sumitomo Corporation expressed its support for the United Nations Food Systems Summit (FSS), declaring that it will contribute to global sustainable food systems through a range of food and agricultural businesses conducted by the Sumitomo Corporation Group.
The FSS, scheduled for September 2021 in New York, was the first international forum having discussions on the sustainability of food systems as a global common agenda and setting a vision for the future. The summit is being held based on the belief of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that transformation to sustainable food systems will be crucial for delivering the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Sumitomo Corporation's statement on the FSS