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Article

29 Dec 2021

Author:
The Japan Times

Japan: Leading telecom company NTT to inspect for human rights abuses among all suppliers; suppliers may face termination of business deals depending on inspection result

"NTT to check for human rights abuses among its suppliers" 29 December 2021

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. will launch inspections to check whether there are human rights violations at its major suppliers from fiscal 2022 to root out unethical practices from its supply chains, company sources said Tuesday.

The telecom giant is planning to visit between 40 and 50 major suppliers a year in Japan and abroad to check whether they are engaged in such practices, including forced and child labour, the sources said.

The parent of group companies such as NTT Docomo Inc. and NTT Data Corp. will consider tough consequences, such as terminating business deals, depending on the outcome of the inspections, which are expected to begin in the business year starting April, they said.

NTT officials plan to visit the suppliers’ headquarters and factories to check whether employees are working of their own free will and are not being discriminated against or abused.

They will also look into whether the group’s some 130 major suppliers provide safe and hygienic working environments for their employees.

[...]

“In the short term, (the plan) could lead to rising costs, but we would like to strengthen our response and lead the world by taking into consideration our brand and trust,” one of the company sources said.

While NTT conducts business with about 40,000 companies, it makes 90% of its purchases from roughly 130 major suppliers, including Fujitsu Ltd. and NEC Corp., as well as U.S.-based Microsoft Corp. and Apple Inc.

NTT aims to inspect different companies each year to finish looking into all of them in a few years, the sources said.

If officials find a problem during the inspection, NTT will urge the suppliers to address the issue but will consider terminating business if the problem is not properly handled.