01/01/2012

Cisco Position Statement: Slavery and Human Trafficking (SB 657)

The California Transparency in Supply Chains Act of 2010 (SB 657) is effective January 1, 2012. This law requires large retailers and manufacturers doing business in the state of California, with gross worldwide receipts of over 100 million U.S. dollars (USD), to be transparent about the efforts they have undertaken to eradicate slavery and human trafficking in their direct supply chains for tangible goods offered for sale.

As an active member of the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC), Cisco has adopted the EICC Code of Conduct which prohibits the use of forced, bonded, indentured labor or involuntary prison labor. We audit our suppliers to this Code and take seriously all forms of non-conformance. We actively collaborate with our industry partners in the EICC to help identify opportunities to share best practices among members, expand the Code of Conduct, and make recommendations on available tools and training.

In addition to the collaborative effort with the EICC, Cisco has internal policies and practices that are based on international labor and human rights standards. We partner with our supply chain to create an environment where workers have the right to freely choose employment. This focus on slavery and human trafficking is part of a larger effort around supply chain transparency and accountability. Cisco has taken multiple actions to verify the absence of forced labor, slavery and human trafficking in our supply chain, including:

• Supplier Code of Conduct with Freely Chosen Employment standard. Cisco rolled out our Supplier Code of Conduct which is aligned with the EICC Code of Conduct. It outlines our requirements regarding workers at supplier facilities having the right to freely choose their employment: Forced, bonded (including debt bondage) or indentured labor; involuntary prison labor; slavery or trafficking of persons shall not be allowed.
• Supplier agreements. Cisco has master purchasing agreements or purchase order terms and conditions in place with our supply chain suppliers, requiring them to comply with international standards and applicable laws and regulations. In addition, we have required our supply chain suppliers to adopt and abide by the supplier code of conduct (EICC Code of Conduct) which prohibits forced labor and child labor.
• Supplier risk assessment and audit: Cisco participates in the EICC's collaborative audit effort (EICC joint audit). Suppliers may be asked to complete the self assessment questions on the EICC Risk Assessment Tool as well as the EICC Self Assessment Questionnaire that has been developed jointly by the EICC. To maintaining internal accountability standards to our supplier code of conduct and sustainability guiding principles, Cisco performs assessments of potential suppliers as well as does regular risk screenings of our supply chain suppliers. Cisco also conducts internal audits and on-site supplier audits, if deemed to be necessary to verify our supply chain suppliers’ conformance to our Supplier Code of Conduct and related standards and policies. These audits are conducted by a third party and use the standardized audit protocols developed by the EICC. We work closely with our suppliers to develop corrective action plans and close out audit findings.
• Procurement professionals training. Cisco requires all Cisco employees to comply with our standard Code of Business Conduct; and employees certify compliance with the Code of Business Conduct annually. Cisco offers training to our employees who are responsible for supply chain management on how to identify and respond to supply chain issues according with our supplier code of conduct, which is aligned with Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC) Code.

To see the complete signed law - The California Transparency in Supply Chains Act of 2010 (SB 657), you can find it at SB657.

For complete information concerning our supply chain sustainability and responsibility program, click the link.

Cisco's position statement (PDF)