Supply Chain Management
Initiatives
Initiatives with Suppliers
Supplier Evaluation
Before starting business dealings with a new supplier, Canon conducts an assessment based on the Canon Sustainability Supplier Guidelines and other reference standards of whether the company fulfills all requisite standards in terms of corporate ethics, environmental conservation (chemical substance management, prevention of air pollution and water pollution, proper disposal of waste, initiatives aimed at conserving energy and resources, reduction of GHG, and biodiversity conservation), finance, and production structure. Only those suppliers who meet these criteria are accepted as suppliers. We aim to preferentially deal with suppliers evaluated highly in our comprehensive assessment including our annual supplier survey as well as each supplier's trade performance. In addition, we conduct on-site audits of suppliers with low evaluations, providing guidance and instruction for improvement. In particular, Canon may choose to terminate business with suppliers if they are not complying with laws and social norms covering areas such as human rights, labor, and the environment.
- * Corporate ethics covers areas including legal compliance, product safety, management of confidential information, human rights, labor, health and safety, and intellectual property right protection.
We request major suppliers to sign an agreement concerning actions related to the RBA Code of Conduct. In 2025, agreements were signed with 367 of 374 major suppliers, equivalent to a consent rate of 98.1%.
Canon also uses an RBA-approved Self-Assessment Requirements of the Canon Green Procurement Standards Questionnaire (SAQ) to identify and assess labor, health and safety, environmental, and ethical risks. Our goal is to consistently achieve a risk assessment response rate of over 95 percent. The response rate was 99.5 percent in 2025 (372 responses out of 374 companies surveyed).
Suppliers that did not reply to the survey were followed up individually. No businesses were identified as high risk among major suppliers, but we provided feedback on the results to our major suppliers and requested that they identify weaknesses and improve on them.
We also conduct online meetings and arrange site visits to help verify the SAQ responses of a select number of major suppliers.
Respect for Human Rights in the Supply Chain
Green Procurement and Guidance to Suppliers
In the environmental area, Canon has established Canon Green Procurement Standards, which outline its environment-related requests to suppliers, and makes compliance with the standards mandatory for all transactions. We view a supplier's environmental management as consisting of two interrelated elements: business activities and parts and materials. We require that the supplier must operate effective environmental management in each of the four frameworks labeled A–D in the following diagram. If a supplier is found to have a negative impact on the environment, we immediately demand corrective action be taken and check the status of improvements made.
Management of Chemical Substances in Products
Specifically, to actively maximize resource efficiency as stated in the Environmental Assurance Philosophy of the Canon Group Environmental Charter, we require suppliers throughout the supply chain to put in place and operate an environmental management system aimed at reducing the environmental impact of their business activities.
It was already Canon’s practice to check the organization and environmental performance of a supplier's business activities and any corrective measures taken. Now, we have further strengthened our risk management to help prevent pollution in our supply chain. For example, in order to ensure compliance with stricter regulations, we are taking measures to boost information gathering and analysis activities regarding laws and regulations on wastewater and emissions in emerging countries. We also conduct risk management in plating processes, where there is a relatively high risk of environmental pollution associated with wastewater treatment as a certain volume of heavy metals is used. Expanding the scope of risk management in this way helps ensure pollution prevention.
Cooperation with Suppliers
Canon is enhancing its cooperative relationships with suppliers through implementation of the EQCD concept.
Specifically, as part of our environmental initiatives, we are working in partnership with suppliers to reduce CO2 emissions using varied measures such as emissions visualization and the adoption of parts and materials with lower CO2 emissions; to promote materials recycling; and to promote regulatory compliance relating to chemical substances.
In addition, as part of our initiatives to improve quality, besides clarifying evaluation standards, we are looking at cooperative approaches that utilize supplier feedback to help raise quality.
Collaboration with Suppliers in 2025
Canon Hi-Tech (Thailand) (CHT) is working with suppliers to improve its packaging methods with the aim of reducing plastic waste and the volume of packaging materials. Instead of plastic bags, the subsidiary uses cardboard corner coverings to package parts. It has also reduced the use of stretch film to wrap the pallets used in shipping. CHT is also reusing packaging materials with its suppliers.
Canon Precision is collaborating with suppliers to take action to save energy, seeking to step up the pace of reducing environmental impact across the supply chain. This includes visiting suppliers to share case studies of improvements and to check the status of their activities. The company also lends measuring equipment to suppliers to enable them to visualize electricity and air usage, and make improvements accordingly. In 2025, Canon Precision carried out activities with two suppliers, contributing to a reduction of 6.16 t-CO2e in emissions (yielding a cumulative reduction of 30.81 t-CO2e among four companies since 2024). It plans to implement further measures going forward, including reducing emissions generated in logistics by making transportation more efficient.
Comments from a Supplier Collaborating in Reducing Environmental Impact
Since relocating and rebuilding our factory in January 2024, our company has been making efforts to reduce its environmental impact. After having multiple meetings and getting advice from Canon Precision, however, we were able to further reduce our environmental footprint by focusing on optimizing compressor air, something that is easy to overlook. This was a very meaningful initiative, as we were able to discover new insights that will lead to continued improvements going forward.
Aomori Factory Manager
TOMOKU CO.,LTD.
Canon also worked with Nidec to calculate primary data on raw material CO2 emissions for that company's fan motors, incorporating this data for the first time into the calculation of life cycle CO2 emissions for Canon's office multifunction printers.
Collaboration to Incorporate Primary Supplier Data
Hotline for Risks in the Supply Chain
Canon has set up a hotline to allow anyone inside or outside the company to anonymously report any concerns about the supply chain. This enables whistleblowers to share any specific concerns or information relating to human rights or other responsible business practices, such as instances of child labor or forced labor. This process is detailed in the Canon Supplier Code of Conduct and publicized.
Addressing the Issue of Responsible Minerals Sourcing
Products manufactured and sold by the Canon Group and numerous other corporations contain materials that originate from a variety of minerals. These materials are sourced through diverse supply chains from their places of origin throughout the world. Mineral mining sites, smelters or other processing sites for some of those materials have been shown to have links to armed groups, serious human rights violations or environmental destruction. Corporations are therefore being called upon to exercise their social responsibility by identifying conflict/high-risk regions and avoiding the use of materials supplied from business operators disrespecting human rights or environmental conservation in those regions.
To reassure customers using Canon products, we are working with suppliers and industry bodies on responsible mineral sourcing initiatives.
Canon Group Basic Policy on Responsible Minerals Sourcing
Due Diligence
Canon investigates the countries of origin of minerals and exercises due diligence, following the 5-step framework recommended by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in its Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas (OECD Guidance).
Based on a common Group-wide policy and survey reporting system, Canon identifies products that could contain certain metals or minerals and then conducts investigations of the parts and materials in question, tracing up the supply chain to determine places of origin. Canon exercises due diligence to identify human rights and environmental risks in conflict-affected and high-risk areas around the world.
Risk Identification and Evaluation
Tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold (3TG) produced in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and neighboring countries are said to have been used in some cases to provide funding for armed groups allegedly responsible for serious human rights violations, environmental destruction, illegal mining, and other issues. These are generally referred to as "conflict minerals." Canon conducts risk assessments for 3TG extracted from regions around the world that are at high risk due to conflict or other factors, including the DRC and neighboring countries.
Furthermore, we are conducting risk assessments on cobalt, a non-3TG mineral that has attracted growing global attention due to concerns over human rights risks at mining locations.
In identifying and evaluating the above risks, Canon uses the Conflict Minerals Reporting Template (CMRT) and the Extended Minerals Reporting Template (EMRT) published by the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI*), as well as internally developed formats based on survey indicators where necessary. We use the results of these surveys to inform risk-mitigation efforts in this area.
- * An international program that plays a leading role in the response to conflict minerals.
Initiatives to Reduce Risk
Supplier cooperation is essential in identifying places of origin for minerals and related smelters. Besides assisting eligible suppliers by compiling a guidance manual for our surveys, we also encourage suppliers to ascertain and use only those smelters confirmed as conformant by the RMI. Where significant risk is found, we seek to mitigate it by requesting that suppliers switch to a supply chain with lower mineral procurement risk.
Canon established a page entitled "Procedure for the Submission of Concerns Regarding Mineral Risk" on its official website to recognize such risks in the early stage. Parties with specific concerns and/or information regarding circumstances of extraction, trade, handling and export of minerals in conflict-affected and high-risk areas as they pertain to Canon product supply chains (such as facts indicating that those minerals are the source of funds for armed groups in conflict-affected areas and human rights violations) can contact Canon through this page.
Procedure for the Submission of Concerns Regarding Mineral Risk
Cooperation with Industry Groups
Since April 2015, Canon has supported the activities of the RMI, an international program focused on addressing the issue of conflict minerals.
In Japan, Canon is active as a leading member of the Responsible Minerals Trade Working Group (RMTWG) of the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA).
2025 Surveys and Disclosure
In 2025, Canon requested CMRT/EMRT-based surveys relating to 3TG and cobalt sourcing from eligible suppliers. The response rates were approximately 91.7% for 3TG and 90.9% for cobalt (tentative response rate as of March 23, 2026)
Based on the survey responses, there is no evidence pointing towards significant human rights or environmental risks in Canon's supply chain. However, the complex nature of the supply chain makes it difficult to identify specific smelters or in many cases to obtain clear responses. Given these and a range of other survey challenges, Canon is working for further risk identification and improvement.
In line with OECD Guidance, the assessment framework of Canon Group surveys, the results, risk analyses and information relating to specific smelters are published annually in the Conflict Minerals Report on Canon's website.
The Responsible Minerals Sourcing Report (3TG) is audited by independent private-sector experts to provide assurance that the Group's initiatives on conflict minerals investigation conform to international standards in the form of the OECD Guidance.
A total of nine Canon Group production sites underwent VAP audits by the RBA in 2025. The audited sites have been recognized by an outside auditing organization as being compliant with standards for'D. Ethics 7. Responsible Mineral Sourcing' of the RBA Code of Conduct.
| Reference: Responsible Minerals Sourcing Report (3TG) |