Social Standards and Responsible Sourcing
To ensure Human Rights due diligence within Materials Management, a multi-stage due diligence process anchors our responsibility for the supplier network. It is part of the ZF Code of Conduct and sourcing process as a legal requirement.
BUSINESS PARTNER Code of Conduct
All new and existing suppliers are required to endorse the ZF Business Partner Code of Conduct. They represent the key values that are indispensable for ZF. More precisely, these principles contain guidelines specifying fundamental requirements for collaboration with ZF’s business partners.
They address topics such as human rights, labor standards, occupational health and safety, environmental protection, business ethics, compliance, and Sustainability in the Supply Chain.
Please follow the link Business Partner Code of Conduct (BPCoC) for more details.
HUMAN RIGHTS DUE DILIGENCE
Many countries, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Germany have passed legislations to strengthen human rights and environmental protection in global supply chains.
It obligates companies to respect human rights by implementing defined due diligence obligations. These obligations apply to the own business area, the actions of contracting partners and the actions of other (indirect) suppliers. This means that the responsibility of companies no longer ends at their own factory gate but extends throughout the entire supply chain.
RESPONSIBLE SUPPLY CHAIN INITIATIVE
An important component in the fulfillment of corporate due diligence and legal requirements are instruments that make it possible to check working conditions. For this purpose, ZF joined the initiative for sustainable supply chains in the automotive industry called Responsible Supply Chain Initiative (RSCI).
At its core, the RSCI has developed a standard and a central platform for a standardized sustainability assessment of production locations. The initiative also carries out on-site assessments and tracing. Using the RSCI standard helps to avoid multiple audits and to recognize third-party audit results. Based on the supplier risk assessment ZF might define an RSCI Audit as a preventive on measure.
RSCI main page: Responsible Supply Chain Initiative e.V. | RSCI
RSCI Auditee Knowledge Hub: Link
Auditee Checklist : Auditee Checklist for RSCI Assessment
Intro form : RSCI Intro
CRITICAL RAW MATERIALS
ZF makes efforts to ensure a responsible and resilient supply chain of Critical Raw Materials (CRM), as defined in the Material Change Report by Drive Sustainability. CRM are raw materials of high economic importance associated with high supply risks, including environmental and social concerns.
ZF focuses on transparency, traceability, and circularity of raw materials to prevent and mitigate ESG risks associated with their extraction and processing. This is reflected in ZF’s raw material sourcing standards included in contractual agreements between ZF and its suppliers. Our expectations towards suppliers include mandatory reporting of tin, tungsten, tantalum, and gold (3TG) smelters and refiners through the Conflict Minerals Reporting Template (CMRT), mandatory reporting of cobalt and mica smelters through the Extended Minerals Reporting Template (EMRT), or fulfillment of circularity targets related to the share of recycled raw material content.
For more details on conflict minerals due diligence process, please refer to the Conflict Minerals Due Diligence Report 2024
