Global Stakeholder Engagement Program

Caux Round Table

Overview
Date: 7th October 2019 at AP Tokyo Marunouchi Nippon Seimei Marunouchi Garden Tower
Host: Caux Round Table Japan
Introduction
Hiroshi Ishida, Executive Director of CRT Japan, first introduced the organization and the work it
does in Japan and abroad. Then, he presented that since 2012, CRT Japan has held annual
stakeholder program in Tokyo that Japanese businesses, NGO/NPO, social businesses andsubjective experts participated in. And, in response to the increasing concern from the society on
supply chain practices of Japanese companies, it has scaled up its program to hold in Thailand in
2016, in Thailand, Malaysia, and Myanmar in 2017, and in Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia in
2018. In 2019, CRT Japan conducted a dialogue with Japanese companies and small-scale palm
oil farmers in Indonesia, and conducted a dialogue on activities of Fishing Industry in Thailand.
Next, Minoru Matsuzaki from CRT Japan reported on the Stakeholder Engagement Program inJapan. As a feature of the 2019 Program, NGOs/NPOs raised globally increasing concerns such as
AI and human rights, AI and privacy, relationships between climate change and human rights,
foreign workers in Japan, grievance mechanism, and SDGs and human rights. Regarding thecomposition of the corporate participants, the participation from the chemical and building
materials sector, consumer goods sector, and food sector increased significantly from the previousyear.
Lastly, Hiroshi Ishida from CRT Japan shared a plan for next year that CRT Japan would continue
to provide dialogue sessions such as with small-scale palm farmers in Asian countries. Then, theparticipants and the foreign experts conducted the discussion to exchange their views. Thefollowing shows the main points of the discussion.
Comments from the Global Experts⚫ Human rights issues are very difficult for companies with limited resources to address bythemselves. For example, it is important to work on human rights issues related to conflictminerals in cooperation with industry initiatives such as the Responsible Business Alliance(RBA). In the aviation industry, it is important to deal with human trafficking.
⚫ Several organizations have already begun their initiatives to assess, benchmark and disclose
corporate efforts of human rights. Every year, companies that engage with these organizations
tend to improve their practices to respect human rights.
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The disclosure of human rights initiatives by Japanese companies is behind that of global
companies. Without disclosure, ESG investors may judge that this company makes little
Caux Round Table Japan
Shibuya Sanshin Mansion 505, 29-33 Sakuragaoka-cho Shibuya-ku Tokyo 150-0031 JAPANTEL: +81 (0)3 5728 6365 FAX: +81 (0)3 5728 63661

progress for respect of human rights.
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Caux Round Table

Japanese companies are behind of development of grievance mechanisms that help to listen
to the voices of individuals whose human rights may or may have been negatively impacted,
which is required by the UN Business and Human Rights Guiding Principles. Their grievancemechanisms have not been expanded and accessible to their business partners and local
communities.
Be aware of “Going Beyond Audit” when addressing human rights. An effort to realize respectfor human rights is to continuously engage with external experts and individuals who arenegatively affected, and to communicate that effort to the outside.
When addressing human rights issues, it is important to conduct a root cause analysis. We⚫

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must identify and address why child labour occurs, why living wages are not paid, what kindof impact child labour has on children, how it affects children's education, etc.
The issue of migrant workers in Japan is recognized globally. Japanese companies should
investigate whether human rights of migrant workers working in the service industry, logistics,
warehouses, as well as manufacturing sites in the supply chain, have been violated, and mustcorrect them if violated.
It is important that companies work with competitors to leverage their influence and engage
not only with first-tier suppliers but also with multi-tier suppliers.
Since human rights issues are for everyone involved in business activities, it is important toengage in human rights issues not only in the CSR Department but also in other departments.
In some companies, the Legal Department has begun working on human rights issues.
However, is management involved in addressing human rights issues? Do you conduct humanrights training and training for management? Are human rights issues discussed at the board
meeting?
Human rights awareness and initiatives are progressing at the headquarters, but are overseas
subsidiaries in Asia where human rights issues are becoming more apparent conducting
trainings that raise awareness of respect for human rights and initiatives to promote humanrights? Do you assess the negative impact on the communities in which your business operate?
It is important not only to comply with laws and regulations in the countries and regions whereyou conduct business, but also to strive to maximize respect for international human rights
principles.

Participants of this program

Discussion among participants

Caux Round Table Japan
Shibuya Sanshin Mansion 505, 29-33 Sakuragaoka-cho Shibuya-ku Tokyo 150-0031 JAPANTEL: +81 (0)3 5728 6365 FAX: +81 (0)3 5728 63662

Foreign Experts：•Caux Round Table

Dirk Hoffman
Senior Advisor on Human Rights and Business, Danish Institute for Human Rights•Gus McFarlane
Vice President, Verisk Maplecroft•

Livio Sarandrea
Manager and Chief Adviser of Regional Program on Business and Rights
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Bangkok Regional Hub•

Neill Wilkins
Responsible for the migrant workers program,Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB)•Rishi Sher Singh
Supply Chain Sustainability Expert•Dr. Puvan Selvanathan
CEO, Bluenumber•

Camille Le Pors
Senior Research, Corporate Human Rights Benchmarks（WBA/CHRB）•Paulina Murphy
Engagement Director, World Benchmarking Alliance（WBA）

Participants：•••••

FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation
Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., LTD.
SEKISUI CHEMICAL CO., LTD.
ANA HOLDINGS INC.
NAXIS CO.,LTD.

Secretariat：•Caux Round Table Japan

Caux Round Table Japan
Shibuya Sanshin Mansion 505, 29-33 Sakuragaoka-cho Shibuya-ku Tokyo 150-0031 JAPANTEL: +81 (0)3 5728 6365 FAX: +81 (0)3 5728 63663