H&M Group
Animal welfare policy
Applies to:
Scope:
Version:This version effective from:First version created:
Owner:All brands within H&M GroupAll products sold under any H&M Group brand
2.3
January 2023
January 2014
Group Sustainability department, H&M Group__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Our commitment to animal welfare
As a large global organization, we are committed to act ethically, transparently, and responsibly. Animal
welfare is important to us, and no animals should be harmed in the making of our products. We have along-standing commitment to improve animal welfare across our global supply chains and are working
to source all our animal-derived materials that we use from farms with good animal welfare practices inplace.
To do this, we:

promote and use credible standards and certifications to ensure animal welfare,engage with industry peers and animal welfare organisations to raise the ambition level for ourindustry, underpinned by the latest science,
support strengthened animal welfare legislation globally, to help improve the well-being of animals
worldwide.

Our Ambition - By end of 2025, we aim to source all virgin animal-derived fibres from responsible farms
that are certified to a credible animal welfare standard1. By 2030, this commitment will also include leather.
For details on the specific standards we use, please see our Specific Material Requirements below.
We also aim to reduce our dependency on virgin natural materials and therefore encourage the use ofrecycled animal fibres and support the development of innovative alternatives to animal-derived
materials. Information regarding our progress is available in our Sustainability Disclosure.
Traceability - We know that progress with this policy is dependent on having visibility of our entire
value chain. Therefore, we are also committed to improve traceability and transparency across oursupply chains in parallel with using selected animal welfare standards and certifications. We areinvesting in several traceability systems that can help strengthen the integrity for our animal fibres.
Standards – We aim to source all virgin animal-derived materials used in our products from farms certified
to a credible animal welfare standard – for us, it is important that the standards we use are built on the Five
Domains model.
The Five Domains model is a tool to assess animal welfare and an animal’s quality of life, such as theability for animals to perform their normal behaviours, being managed in herds or flocks, and given theopportunity to graze, browse and forage during their live. The model is rooted in science and makes
judgements based on observable facts about animal suffering and what is needed for animals to havepositive physical and social experiences in their lives.
Click here for more information on the Five Domains.

1

For more details on specific fibers and standards, please see the H&M Group Raw Material Specific Requirements

General Information

Animal-derived material requirements (including prohibited materials)
Below follows all our material requirements connected to this policy. Any materials not addressed here areprohibited. For further guidance, please contact H&M Group sustainability department.
Wool and animal hair
 H&M Group only accepts wool and animal hair from living and domesticated animals, such as
sheep, goat, alpaca, lama, camel, and yak.


By end of 2025, 100% of all virgin wool and animal hair2 used by H&M Group must come fromfarms certified to a credible animal welfare standard:

By end of 2025, all virgin sheep wool used in any product for H&M Group must originate
from a farm certified to the Responsible Wool Standard (RWS) or similar3.



By end of 2025, all alpaca wool used in any product for H&M Group must originate from afarm certified to the Responsible Alpaca Standard (RAS) or similar.



By end of 2025, all cashmere used in any product for H&M Group must originate
from a farm certified to the Good Cashmere Standard (GCS) or similar.

All virgin mohair used in any product for H&M Group must come from farms
certified to the Responsible Mohair Standard or a similar standard.

H&M Group does not accept sheep wool from farms that practice mulesing4.

H&M Group does not accept angora rabbit hair or any other hair from animals reared in cages fortheir hair, including but not limited to rabbit, raccoon, marten, fox, squirrel, sable chinchilla orferret.

Down and Feathers All virgin down and feathers used by the H&M Group must come from farms certified to theResponsible Down Standard (RDS) or to a similar standard.

Fur

H&M Group only allows down and feathers from ducks and geese bread for meat production.

H&M Group does not accept down or feathers from exotic birds, including but not limited toostrich and peacock.

H&M Group does not accept real fur5 (including but not limited to mink, fox, rabbit, sable, karakul
lamb, chinchilla, raccoon dog).

Leather By 2030, H&M Group will only allow leather from farms certified to a credible standard with animal
welfare requirements included.
H&M Group only accepts leather originating from cow, buffalo, sheep, goat or pig that has beenbred for meat production.

2 This includes all our animal-derived wool and hair; sheep wool, alpaca, mohair, cashmere, camel, and yak.
3 Currently, approved schemes include Responsible Wool Standard (RWS) and Nativa wool.
4 All wool originating from Australia must be declared as ‘non-mulesed’ (NM) or ‘ceased-mulesed’ (CM) in a National Wool Declaration (NWD) test certificate.
5 Our definition of “fur” does not include any of the following materials: 1) Skins from sheep or goats with clipped, shorn, or combed hair, such as fleece, sheepskin,or shearling; 2) Skins normally used as leather with hair still attached, e.g., cowhide with hair attached, or 3) synthetic materials intended to look like fur.

H&M Hennes & Mauritz GBC AB (H&M Group)

H&M Group Animal Welfare PolicyH&M Group does not accept leather or skin from fetal or newborn lambs; including but not limitedto slink, astrakhan, karakul, Persian lamb, broadtail, or krimmer.

Exotic skins
 H&M Group does not accept exotic skins or skins from wild animals, including but not limited to;snake, alligator, crocodile, lizard, ostrich, emu or kangaroo.
Horn & bone H&M Group does not accept animal horn or bone to be used in our products.
Animal testing All cosmetic products sold under any H&M Group brand must comply with EU Cosmetic
Regulation’s animal testing prohibition, regardless of country they are produced or sold in.
H&M Group does not test cosmetic products or cosmetic ingredients on animals*, neither during
production nor on finished products.

H&M Group does not allow any product quality tests for garments to be conducted on living
animals, for example self-adhesive skin testing.
* Animal testing excludes in-vitro tests or tests conducted completely with human volunteers.

Governance
We apply a risk-based approach and focus our efforts on our raw material stage of our value chain foranimal welfare. We review this policy once a year at a minimum and ask for feedback from internal andexternal stakeholders to ensure its relevance and ambition level.

Responsibilities for our suppliers
Signing our Sustainability Commitment is mandatory for any supplier or business partner before entering abusiness relationship with H&M Group. This Animal Welfare policy is an extension of our Sustainability
Commitment and covers the raw material stage in our value chain. All suppliers involved with animalderived materials or beauty products must comply with this policy. We expect that they:

Make sure that our requirements are being communicated to any sub-suppliers and subcontractors related to our production.
Comply with any certification specific requirements and can provide with all relevant information
for the material on time.
Collaborate with us on due diligence as well as sourcing mitigation strategies in line with thispolicy and across our joint supply chains.

Speak up!
If you would like to raise a concern, or you are aware of a suspected breach of this Animal Welfare policy
anywhere in our supply chain, you should report it immediately to the H&M Group Speak Up! channel
which is available at https://speakup.hmgroup.com. H&M Group will not disclose the identity of the person
who makes a report to any internal or external part.
H&M Group recommend all supply chain partners to offer the possibility for anyone to anonymously reporton suspected breaches to this Animal welfare policy and act accordingly.

H&M Hennes & Mauritz GBC AB (H&M Group)

H&M Group Animal Welfare Policy