Respect for human rights

Practising due diligence

Management approach: We are establishing a due diligence approach to human rights compliance and are committed to respecting the UN Guiding Principles on Human Rights. We plan to minimise the use of rare earth minerals and conflict minerals in our products and commit our suppliers in this regard.

Implementation: During the 2022 business year, we completed our preparations for implementing the counterproposal to the Corporate Responsibility Initiative in accordance with Art. 964j et seq. of the Swiss Code of Obligations and the Ordinance of 3 December 2021 on Due Diligence Obligations and Transparency Regarding Minerals and Metals from Conflict Areas and Child Labour from 2023. The Swiss legislation is largely identical to the EU Regulation (EU) 2017/821. The indirect counterproposal to the Corporate Responsibility Initiative obliges Zehnder to comply with due diligence obligations in the supply chain and report thereon (1) minerals or metals containing tin, tantalum, tungsten or gold from conflict and high-risk areas are transferred into free circulation or processed in Switzerland; or (2) products are offered for which there is a reasonable suspicion that they have been produced or processed using child labour. Each mineral or metal is divided into subcategories, and each has been assigned an individual kilogram threshold for annual imports. To determine whether Zehnder Group’s total imports are in excess of the threshold values, a template was prepared and sent to the Group companies. According to initial assessments, Zehnder Group is far below the quantitative thresholds for minerals and metals in accordance with Art. 4 and Annex 1 of the Ordinance on Due Diligence Obligations and Transparency Regarding Minerals and Metals from Conflict Areas and Child Labour.

Outlook: On a voluntary basis and without reasonable grounds to suspect child labour, in 2023 we will begin to build a human rights due diligence risk management framework in line with the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct on Child Labour of 30 May 2018. We are also planning a project with internal and external stakeholders, which started in May 2023. The goal here is to assess every aspect of the UN Guiding Principles of Human Rights at our organisation and embed them into our structures and processes accordingly.

In addition, although we are below the conflict minerals threshold values, we will continue to reduce our use of rare earth minerals in our products and, wherever possible, ensure that we do not use materials sourced from areas potentially affected by conflict.