Advancing Human Rights in the Thai Fish Supply Chain: 2019 Progress Update
We find it unacceptable that forced labor and other serious human rights issues persist in many industries
and supply chains around the world. In Thailand, public reports have documented risks and instances ofdebt bondage, document and wage retention, and dangerous working conditions in the seafood industry.
In 2016, Mars Petcare began activating our Human Rights Action Plan focused on the fish supply chain inThailand. This is an update on progress and key learnings to date.
In our Human Rights Action Plan, we outlined our aims to:Establish traceability mechanisms
Understand working conditions in factories and on vessels
Build trusted relationships with suppliers, government and civil society partners

While we are advancing toward our goals, we have experienced first-hand the complexity and long-term
nature of this work. We have also learned several lessons along the way that give us a better
understanding of how we can advance respect for rights in our Thai fish supply chain and influence
broader change across the industry.
1. Human rights issues in the fishing sector in Thailand are deeply rooted, complex and require
major, systemic change. There is not a quick fix.
2. Businesses at every level of the supply chain must take responsibility for their employees and theimprovements needed to ensure their rights are respected. This means they should conduct humanrights due diligence and strengthen management systems to identify, address and prevent humanrights issues. Currently, few businesses have robust systems in place.
3. Ensuring respect for rights requires a strong enabling environment – existing laws need to be
enforced with additional regulations implemented where needed.
As outlined in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, governments bear the primary
responsibility for protecting human rights and businesses should respect human rights. Although Mars
Petcare cannot resolve these issues alone, we believe we can drive improvements by shining a light on key
challenges, partnering with government and others to address them and working toward a Thai fish supply
chain for Mars where human rights are respected at every level. As we continue our efforts, we are:

Hiring an additional senior role based in Thailand to progress this work
Supporting our direct suppliers as they strengthen their own supply chain human rights
management systems
Working with suppliers and partners to test new approaches to addressing human rights risks atthe vessel level - identifying what works and what can be taken to scale
Working with partners in industry, government and civil society to identify and begin to address
root causes

Additional Details & Progress
We developed our plan in 2016 using the CARE Framework, a strategy and planning tool developed byMars and based on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Key progress to date is
described below.

Mars, Incorporated , McLean, Virginia United Statesmars.com© 2019 Mars, IncorporatedPage 1 of 2

Commit Established team accountable for implementing our human rights work in Thailand, led by theProcurement function.
 Put in place internal governance and support structure, including senior leaders from Mars Petcareand Mars, Incorporated who meet on a regular basis with the implementation team to review progressand address challenges.
Assess Mapped our Thai fish supply chain to the vessel level.
 Verified traceability processes through third-party review.
 Grew our understanding of working conditions on land-based facilities and vessels in our supplychain.
Respond Most of our first tier suppliers have put in place third-party human rights grievance hotlines at ourrequest, reaching about 50,000 workers.
 Ensured all 13 of our first-tier suppliers in Thailand participated in in-depth, 2-day human rights
training. More than 80 managers from our first- and second-tier suppliers including pier owners andvessel owners took part.
 Built collaborations with suppliers, government and civil society, for example:o Piloted connectivity at sea technology on four vessels with supplier Thai Union, testing
scalability and effectiveness for workers.
o Funded OceanMind effort to build government capability to stop illegal, unreported andunregulated fishing.
o Formed strategic partnership with the Issara Institute, a leading nongovernmentalorganization based in Bangkok, to understand human rights conditions among workers in ourThai fish supply chain.
Engage As an elected Board member of the Seafood Taskforce - an industry-led coalition tacklingenvironmental and social challenges in the sector - we led the Tuna subgroup and are a member of theResponsible Recruitment subgroup. Through the Taskforce, we drove focus on international tuna
supply chains and the development of the first Social Code of Conduct and auditable standards forvessels.
 Convened global human rights and environmental sustainability experts for a two-day session to share
input and guidance on our fish sustainability strategy and Human Rights Action Plan.
 Engaged across sectors on the importance of advancing respect for rights in the Thai seafood industry.
o Co-Chair of the Consumer Goods Forum’s Forced Labor Taskforce and led development ofits Priority Industry Principles against Forced Labor. Our CEO has spoken publically on theimportance of this work.
o Member of the Institute for Human Right and Business (IHRB) Leadership Group on
Responsible Recruitment and active participant in its dialogue with government officials andsupplier training sessions in Thailand.
Our ultimate objective is that effective human rights management systems are in place across our full Thaifish supply chain, helping to ensure that all workers are treated with fairness, dignity and respect. We arecommitted to drawing on the lessons we’ve learned so far to deliver further progress and positive impact
going forward.
###mars.com© 2019 Mars, Incorporated

Page 2 of 2