Human Rights Management

In April 2017 the Fuji Oil Group established the Fuji Oil Group Human Rights Policy, which lays out our basic approach to human rights. In March 2023, we established the Fuji Oil Group Human Rights Guidelines to serve as specific principles that guide the shared recognition for respect for human rights in all employees.

• Fuji Oil Group Human Rights Policy (PDF,388KB)
• Fuji Oil Group Human Rights Guidelines (PDF,300KB)

The Group’s Sustainability Committee,^*1 an advisory body to the Board of Directors of Fuji Oil Holdings Inc., deliberates on and monitors the Group’s responses to environmental and social issues including human rights, and recommends and reports the results to the Board. Chaired by the President and CEO, the committee is composed of chief officers with voting rights, other executive officers, heads of each business division, outside directors, and the ESG advisor, and meets at least twice a year. Under the ESG Division Officer, the Sustainability Development Group supervises relevant divisions and identifies Group-wide human rights risks. Key human rights risks are incorporated into our material ESG issues,^*2 and cross-departmental responses for human rights issues within the Group and within the supply chain are led by the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) and the Chief Strategy Officer (CSO), respectively.
Under this committee, the Subcommittee on Group Significant Risks discusses and manages human rights-related risks and opportunities as the Group, and reports the results to the Management Committee Meeting and Board of Directors for approval at least once a year.

• *1 Governance, Strategy, Metrics and Targets, Risk Management > Governance

  https://www.fujioilholdings.com/en/sustainability/sustainability_management/

• *2 Governance, Strategy, Metrics and Targets, Risk Management > Strategy, metrics and targets

  https://www.fujioilholdings.com/en/sustainability/sustainability_management/

Human rights are the rights that all people are born with to live freely and with dignity. As stated in the Policy section above, we have established the Fuji Oil Group Human Rights Policy and the Fuji Oil Group Human Rights Guidelines, and in the Group Management Philosophy,^* one of our principles declares that we will respect the diversity and individuality of Fuji Oil Group employees. Therefore, we aim for corporate management that emphasizes diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I). Respect for human rights forms the foundation of these ideas.
Failure to address human rights issues will increase risk of discrimination based on attributes such as nationality, race, age, sexual orientation and gender identity, personality, or disability. Conversely, addressing human rights issues in detail throughout the Group will be an opportunity to conduct fair evaluations, provide equitable opportunities, and improve employee engagement.
As a Group with a global supply chain, we also recognize our responsibility to respect the human rights of all stakeholders, including those working in the supply chain (focusing on working conditions, occupational health and safety, non-discrimination and equal opportunity, forced and child labor, and land rights at plantations) and consumers, in addition to our employees. We will thus strive to fulfill this responsibility, embodying our commitment to “work for people” as declared as one of the Values that inform our actions in the Group Management Philosophy.

• * https://www.fujioilholdings.com/en/about/constitution/

Human rights due diligence

Overview

The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights^*1 clearly state that businesses also have the responsibility to respect human rights. They require that businesses understand the social and moral significance of respecting human rights in fulfilling this responsibility, and doing so consists of three components: policy commitment, conducting human rights due diligence,^*2 and establishing a process that enables remediation. Our Group conducts human rights due diligence as part of the “implementation of the responsibility to respect human rights” specified in the Group’s Human Rights Policy.

• *1 A set of international standards unanimously endorsed by the UN Human Rights Council in 2011.
• *2 The act of identifying human rights risks in a company’s business throughout the supply chain, and explaining and disclosing information on the effectiveness of initiatives and approaches towards preventing and reducing those risks.

Impact assessment process

Our Group conducts human rights impact assessments following the process advocated by the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights with guidance from outside experts in order to identify and evaluate the possible adverse impacts of our business activities on human rights and to identify priority issues. We conducted our first assessment in FY2016, and second assessment in FY2020, and identified our human rights risks as described below. During the second assessment in FY2020, we received guidance from BSR, a third-party expert on business and human rights.
In the first stage, we identified human rights risks based on the nature of the Group’s business and our operating locations using the expertise of BSR.
In the second stage, we conducted interviews with relevant in-house parties to incorporate as much information from our actual operations as possible. In this stage, done in collaboration with BSR, we identified six categories where our business can have a human rights impact: 1) Occupational health and safety, 2) Human rights of supply chain workers, 3) Diversity and inclusion (D&I) and human rights in the workplace, 4) Food safety, 5) Governance, risk, and compliance, and 6) Climate impact on human rights.
In the third stage, following expert guidance, we selected three categories of human rights risks to address as priority issues: 1) Occupational health and safety, 2) Human rights of supply chain workers, and 3) D&I and human rights in the workplace. These identified risks have been reported to our executive team.
In the medium-term we will work to reduce identified risks in these three categories and share details of our progress through this report (in sections according to theme, such as human rights management, promotion of DE&I and sustainable procurement).

Results of 1st and 2nd human rights impact assessments

Progress in addressing human rights risks based on views from stakeholders

Since our first human rights impact assessment in FY2016, we have been addressing human rights risks by taking into account views from stakeholders such as experts in the field of business and human rights. For our FY2023 progress on the human rights risks identified in our second assessment, see the “Metrics and targets” section.

Grievance mechanismsGRI：2-25, 26

Whistleblowing system

We have established a whistleblowing system^* for employees (including retired employees) of Group companies in and outside Japan and employees of some cooperating companies.

• * Fair Business Practices > Whistleblowing system

  https://www.fujioilholdings.com/en/sustainability/compliance/

Grievance mechanism for our supply chains

In May 2018, we established a grievance mechanism^* based on our Responsible Palm Oil Sourcing Policy. This mechanism provides a way to raise concerns about environmental or human rights issues within the Group’s palm oil supply chain. We set up a grievance mechanism webpage in English on our Group website to announce the mechanism and its progress.

• * https://www.fujioilholdings.com/en/sustainability/grievance_mechanism/

Fuji Oil Group Human Rights Guidelines

Based on the Fuji Oil Group Human Rights Policy, we established the Fuji Oil Group Human Rights Guidelines in March 2023 to address human rights issues related to Group workplaces and employees. The guidelines have been translated into nine languages so that all employees can understand them.
The Guidelines are a part of our response to the “human rights in the workplace (harassment, forced labor)” risks identified in our second human rights impact assessment, and aim to ensure that human rights are respected consistently across all Group companies, in our efforts to establish a comprehensive human rights management system. This was a point raised in our dialogue with BSR in FY2021.

• Fuji Oil Group Human Rights Guidelines (PDF,300KB)

Education, awareness raising

We designated the week of December 10, International Human Rights Day, as Fuji Oil Group Human Rights Week. During this period, leadership statements on business and human rights are shared with all Group employees, and e-mail messages are sent to draw attention to the event. In FY2023, we also shared information on understanding respect for human rights from a corporate perspective on our internal communication site in Japanese, English, Chinese, and Portuguese to raise awareness within the company.

A leadership statement posted on our internal communication site (Japanese, English, Chinese, and Portuguese)

Business and human rights e-learning video (Shared in the 2019 Fuji Oil Group Human Rights Week)