Dufu Technology Corp. Berhad and all its subsidiaries (“Dufu”) is strongly committed to observing the highest ethical business standards and integrity in all its procurement activities. To preserve the trust placed in us, we count on our network of Suppliers and business partners to commit to and uphold our high standards of integrity, values and operating principles.
Dufu’s Supplier Code of Conduct, updated in September 2022, and as may be amended from time to time (the “Supplier Code”), outlines our expectations and guidelines with respect to responsible sourcing including our commitments to human rights, the environment, health and safety, business ethics and the development of a diverse and sustainable supply chain. The Supplier Code is aligned with Responsible Business Alliance Code (“RBA”) and the United Nation Global Compact (“UNGC”) of which Dufu supports their principles and standards.
By its acceptance of any purchase order from Dufu, the Supplier acknowledges its acceptance of the Supplier Code and intention to comply with its requirements.
1. Supplier Relationships
We require all Suppliers and business partners to comply with this Supplier Code. “Suppliers” refers to any third party that provides goods or services to Dufu including, but not limited to, our direct and indirect Suppliers, sub-contractors, labor providers, logistic providers and distributors. Dufu expects that its Suppliers encourage and work with their own suppliers and sub-contractors to ensure that they also strive to meet the principles of this Supplier Code or equivalent set of principles.
2. Labour
Suppliers are committed to uphold human rights of workers, and to treat them with dignity and respect. The required labor standards that are required to be observed by Suppliers are as follows:
- Freely Chosen Employment
Suppliers are prohibited to use forced, bonded (including debt bondage), indentured labour or involuntary prison labour. The terms of employment are voluntary and workers are free to leave anytime or terminate their employment upon reasonable notice under the terms of their labour contracts. Suppliers shall only hire foreign workers with legal work permits and not to keep their passports unless such holdings are required by law. Supplier must adopt no-recruitment fees policy where employees shall not be required to pay any agency recruitment fees for their employment. - Young Workers (Child Labour)
The minimum admission to employment or work shall not be less than the age of allowed by the local labour law. Additionally, all young workers must be protected from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or that may be harmful to the worker’s health, physical, mental, social, spiritual or moral development. - Working Hours
Workweeks set by Suppliers are not to exceed the maximum set by local law. Suppliers must comply with applicable working hours requirement and encourage reasonable working hours including overtime, except in emergency or unusual situations. Overtime is voluntary and employees are paid in accordance with statutory order. - Wages and Benefits
Compensation and benefits paid to employees by Suppliers shall comply with all applicable wage laws, including those relating to minimum wages, overtime hours and legally mandated benefits. Suppliers shall not impose wage deduction as a disciplinary measure. and also commits to review paid local wages meets living wage. - Humane Treatment
Suppliers must create and maintain an environment that treats all employees with dignity and respect and will not use any threats of violence, sexual exploitation or abuse, verbal or psychological harassment or abuse. No harsh or inhumane treatment coercion of any kind is tolerated, nor is there to be the threat of any such treatment. - Non-discrimination/Non-harassment
Suppliers must ensure a workforce free of harassment and unlawful discrimination such as race, colour, age, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, disability, pregnancy, religion, political affiliation, union membership or marital status in hiring and employment practices such as promotions, rewards, and access to training. Supplier’s hiring and remuneration is determined with reference to job related factors such as performance, qualifications and experience. In addition, employees hired by Suppliers are not subjected to medical tests that could be used in a discriminatory way. We expect Suppliers to accommodate their workers religious practices disregarding their race and religion as we understand and respect each individual’s faith by taking extra steps to provide space, time, and flexibility to allow employees to meet their religious obligations. - Freedom of Association
Suppliers must respect the rights of workers to associate freely, seek representation, and join workers’ councils in accordance with local laws. Suppliers are encouraged to adopt open communication and direct engagement with workers to resolve workplace and compensation issues by allowing employees to communicate and share grievances regarding working conditions without fear of reprisal, intimidation or harassment.
3. Health and Safety
Suppliers recognize the need to minimize the incidence of work-related injury and illness and also workers’ input and education are essential to identify and solve health and safety issues in the workplace. The required health and safety standards that are required to be observed by Suppliers are as follows:
- Occupational Health, Safety and Hazard Prevention
The Suppliers shall identify, evaluate and manage occupational health and safety hazards through a prioritized process of hazard elimination, substitution processes or materials, controlling through proper design, implementation of engineering controls and/or administrative controls. The Supplier shall provide workers with job-related, appropriately maintained personal protective equipment and instructions on its proper use. Reasonable steps are also taken to remove pregnant women/nursing mothers from working condition with high hazards and practical break time and accommodations are provided to nursing mothers for managing lactation responsibilities at work. - Occupational Injury and Illness
The Suppliers must have in place the procedures and systems to prevent, manage, track and report occupational injury and illness, including provisions to encourage worker reporting, classify and record injury and illness cases, provide necessary medical treatment, investigate cases and implement corrective actions to eliminate their causes. - Emergency Preparedness
All potential emergency situations and events shall be identified and assessed by the Suppliers, and to reduce their impact by implementing emergency plans and response procedures, including but not limiting to emergency reporting, employee notification and evacuation procedures, worker training and drills, appropriate fire detection and suppression equipment, adequate exit facilities and recovery plans. - Industrial Hygiene
The Supplier shall ensure that workers’ exposure to chemical, biological and physical agents is to be identified, evaluated and controlled with opportunities to eliminate or reduce the potential hazards. If elimination or reduction of the hazards is not possible, proper design, engineering or administrative controls must be used to control overexposures. When hazards cannot be adequately controlled by such means, workers’ health shall be protected by appropriate, well-maintained personal protective equipment free of charge. - Physically Demanding Work
Worker exposure to the hazard of physically demanding tasks, such as manual material handling and heavy or repetitive lifting, prolonged standing and highly repetitive or forceful assembly tasks is shall be identified, evaluated and controlled by Suppliers. - Machine Safeguarding
Suppliers shall evaluate production and other machinery for safety hazards. Physical guards, interlocks, and barriers are to be provided and properly maintained where machinery presents an injury hazard to workers. - Sanitation, Food and Housing
The Supplier shall provide workers with ready access to clean facilities including lavatory, portable water and sanitary food preparation, storage and eating facilities. All workers are expected to have clean and safe dormitories with appropriate emergency egress, hot water for bathing, adequate lighting, secured personal storage and reasonable living space provided by the Suppliers. We expect all the foreign workers recruited by Suppliers are provided with accommodation with free accessibility that comply with the Workers’ Minimum Standards of Housing, Accommodations and Amenities Act 1990 (Act 446). - Health and Safety Communication
Suppliers shall provide workers with appropriate workplace health and safety information and training in the language the worker understand for all the identified workplace hazards. Health and safety related information shall be clearly posted in identifiable location and accessible by workers. Training shall be provided regularly and workers are encouraged to raise any health and safety concerns without retaliation.
4. Environment
Suppliers shall identify the environmental impacts and minimize adverse effects on the community, environment, and natural resources within their manufacturing operations, while safeguarding the health and safety of the public. The required environment standards that are required to be observed by Suppliers are as follows:
- Environmental Permits and Reporting
All required environmental permits (e.g. discharge monitoring), approvals and registrations are obtained, maintained and kept current by Supplier and their operational and strictly adhered to the reporting requirements. - Pollution Prevention and Resource Reduction
Suppliers to take into consideration the use of resources and generation of waste of all types, including water and energy, are kept to minimum or eliminated at the source or by practices such as thorough monitoring and engineering control in production, maintenance and facility processes; materials substitution; conservation, recycling and re-using materials. - Hazardous Substances
Suppliers shall ensure that all hazardous chemicals and other materials harmful to the environment are identified and appropriately managed to ensure their safe handling, movement, storage, use, recycling or reuse and disposal. - Solid Waste
Supplier shall implement a systematic approach to identify, manage, reduce, and responsibly dispose of or recycle solid waste (non-hazardous). - Air Emissions
Supplier shall ensure air emissions of volatile organic chemicals, aerosols, corrosives, particulates, ozone depleting chemicals and combustion by-products generated from operations are characterized, monitored, controlled and treated as required prior to discharge. Supplier shall conduct routine monitoring of the performance of its air emission control systems. - Materials Restrictions
Suppliers is required to adhere to all applicable laws, regulations and customer requirements regarding prohibition or restriction of specific substances in products and manufacturing, including labelling for recycling and disposal. - Water Management
Supplier must implement water management program that documents, characterizes, and monitors water sources, use and discharge; seeks opportunities to conserve water; and controls channels of contamination and document any biodiversity impact. All wastewater is categorised, monitored, controlled, and treated as required prior to discharge or disposal. Supplier shall conduct routine monitoring of the performance of its wastewater treatment and containment systems to ensure optimal performance and regulatory compliance. - Climate Change on Energy Consumption and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions are tracked and documented its impact while continuing to look for cost-effective methods to improve energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
5. Ethics
Suppliers are to uphold the highest standards of ethics including:
- Business Integrity and No Improper Advantage
Dufu expects the highest standards of integrity are to be upheld in all business interactions. Suppliers shall have a zero-tolerance policy to prohibit any and all forms of bribery, corruption, extortion and embezzlement. Monitoring, record-keeping, and enforcement procedures shall be implemented to ensure compliance with anti-corruption laws. Suppliers are required to fully adhere to Dufu’s Anti-Corruption and Bribery (ABC) Policy published on Dufu’s corporate website here. - Gifts and Hospitality
Dufu does not accept any type of gift or any offer of hospitality beyond that of a representational nature. Generally, gifts, meals or entertainment of a nominal value are permissible if they help further a legitimate business relationship for Dufu and if the frequency or timing of their receipt does not create an actual or apparent conflict of interest. Dufu will not accept any recreational trips to sporting or cultural events, offers of holidays, transportation, or invitations to extravagant lunches or dinners. - Responsible Sourcing of Materials
To the extent applicable to Supplier’s operations, Supplier shall have a written policy and exercise due diligence on the source and chain of custody of the conflict materials or unsustainable mined minerals sourced in a way consistent with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Guidance for Responsible Supply Chain of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas. Suppliers are required to fully adhered to Dufu’s Conflict Minerals Policy published on Dufu’s corporate website here. - Disclosure of Information
Suppliers are also expected to ensure all business records and documents are prepared accurately, reliably, transparently and in a timely manner and is to be disclosed in accordance with applicable regulations and prevailing industry practices. - Conflict of Interest
Dufu’s employees are required to act in a way that promotes our best interests and must disclose possible conflicts of interest. The employees of our Suppliers shall refrain from offers that could give rise to the appearance of a conflict of interest for our employees. In case of a potential conflict of interest, e.g. due to family connections, our suppliers shall proactively inform Dufu. - Fair Business, Advertising and Competition
Supplier shall uphold standards of fair business, advertising and competition. Suppliers shall comply with all applicable antitrust and competition laws of the country in which the Dufu operates. Suppliers shall not use illegal or unethical methods to compete in the market which includes but are not limited to:
a) Exchanging, agreeing or arrangement to exchange commercially sensitive or competitive information with competitors
b) Fixing prices or terms related to pricing
c) Dividing up markets, territories or customer
d) Adopting strategies to illegally exclude competitors from the market - Privacy
Suppliers are expected to ensure that all sensitive, confidential and proprietary information is appropriately protected. Suppliers with access to Dufu’s confidential information must not disclose such information to any other person without our advance written consent. Suppliers are not allowed to reproduce copyrighted software, documentation or other materials and are not allowed to transfer, publish, using or disclosing it other than in the ordinary course of business or as directed or authorized by Dufu. Suppliers should observe applicable data privacy standards by protecting sensitive, confidential and proprietary information of others, including personal data/information, from unauthorized access, destruction, use, modification and disclosure, through appropriate physical and electronic security procedures, including mitigating emerging risk to information systems by implementing appropriate IT cyber security software. Suppliers must report to Dufu any suspected or actual data breach or security incident as soon they are aware. - Intellectual Property
Suppliers must comply with all the applicable laws governing intellectual property rights assertions, including protection against disclosure. - Protection of Identity and Non-Retaliation
Dufu expects Suppliers to provide grievance mechanisms that are transparent, responsive, anonymous, unbiased and confidential to workers and other parties across the value chain.
• Workers know of and have access to grievance mechanisms which allow for anonymous reporting. Reported concerns and violations are addressed in a timely manner and follow a clearly outlined process.
• Workers who speak up in good faith are protected from retribution, retaliation and reprisal.
• Dufu is notified if any concerns or violations are reported through the grievance mechanism that are in direct violation of this Supplier Code.
6. Management System
We expect our Suppliers to communicate these expectations to their employees and throughout their supply chain by adopting efficient management systems, polices, procedures and training to uphold the standards and expectations set forth in this Supplier Code. Suppliers must also ensure compliance with applicable laws, regulations and customer requirements related to the company’s operations and products, identification and mitigation of operational risks and seek for continual improvement related to this Supplier Code.
7. Compliance and Auditing
Dufu reserves the right to request from its Suppliers information about the management of relevant issues outlined in the Supplier Code. Suppliers may be asked to permit inspections of their sites and facilities verification purposes in line with this Supplier Code. Suppliers shall provide all relevant records to Dufu upon request. Dufu reserves the rights to audit suppliers on a randomly basis. If non-compliances are observed, the Supplier will be required to take corrective actions.
If Suppliers fail to implement the recommended corrective action plans and do not remedy any act of non-compliance in a timely manner, Dufu may, in its sole discretion and without any further obligation to Suppliers, suspend purchases, refuse to take delivery under any purchase order and return any goods or services from the Supplier until the corrective actions been implemented, or may terminate its business relationship with the Supplier in addition to any other rights or remedies available to Dufu.
The Supplier Code has been drawn up in the English language. In case of discrepancies between the English text version and any translation, the English version shall prevail.
The Supplier Code of Conduct version 1.1 was updated on 15 September 2022.
