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UL’s Responsible Sourcing Issues 2011 UN Global Compact Report

Los Angeles, CA, July XX, 2012 — UL’s Responsible Sourcing group, a leading global provider of corporate responsibility auditing and ethical sourcing consulting services, has released its 2011 United Nations Global Compact Report. Responsible Sourcing has been an active member of the UN Global Compact since 2003.

In its 2011 Report, Responsible Sourcing renews its commitment to the Global Compact’s 10 principles on human rights, labor standards, environmental responsibility, and anti-corruption; provides data on its 20,000 audits conducted annually around the globe; and outlines its key company initiatives including:

• Reducing Human Trafficking in the Supply Chain — In 2011, companies were preparing for the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act (SB657), which went into effect on January 1, 2012. Responsible Sourcing helped educate companies about the Act and worked with them to meet the disclosure requirements. Activities include hosting two multi-stakeholder roundtable discussions on human trafficking and modern-day slavery that included speakers from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST); conducting seminars on the Act in eight U.S. cities, Shanghai, and Hong Kong; and launching a set of human trafficking indicators to help identify risks in the global supply chain.
• Increasing Transparency and Accountability in the Minerals Supply Chain — In response to the humanitarian crisis in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the U.S. Congress passed legislation as part of the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 requiring companies to report on their use of “conflict minerals” in products. Responsible Sourcing continues to work with clients in the electronics, jewelry, pharmaceutical, and automotive industries that will have to submit independent audited annual reports regarding their efforts to determine the country of origin of raw material used in their products. Responsible Sourcing also participated in industry and multi-stakeholder initiatives including serving as a member of the Responsible Jewellery Council Consultative Panel for the Chain of Custody Standard and serving as a member of the OECD Drafting Committee for the Gold Supplement to the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas.
• Advancing Corporate Social Responsibility — In 2011, Responsible Sourcing held its sixth Annual Responsible Sourcing Summit in Los Angeles which featured a number of distinguished guest speakers, including Rev. David Schilling, from the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility; Christine Bader, advisor to John Ruggie, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Business and Human Rights; and Kay Buck, Executive Director of CAST.

Responsible Sourcing also formed several new alliances with some of the industry’s foremost institutes, NGOs, and associations to advance knowledge and research around topics like child labor, women’s rights, and labor law and policy. New 2011 relationships include forming a partnership with BSR to examine women’s health issues in global supply chains and forging a partnership with DIHR to collaborate around country-specific human rights information.

About Responsible Sourcing

Responsible Sourcing is a leading global provider of corporate responsibility auditing and ethical sourcing consulting services, which include monitoring, training, research, and program development. With offices in over 30 countries across five continents, Responsible Sourcing has the reach to provide audit services in over 140 countries around the world. Responsible Sourcing is part of UL Verification Services, a business unit of UL (Underwriters Laboratories).

Additional information about Responsible Sourcing may be found at www.strquality.com/Responsible-Sourcing.