Modern Slavery Act Transparency Statement
This statement is made by Kyowa Kirin International plc ("KKI"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kyowa Kirin Co., Ltd. (a company incorporated in Japan and listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange), pursuant to Section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (the "Act"). This statement sets out the steps taken by KKI and its subsidiaries (together referred to as the "Kyowa Kirin Group") to prevent modern slavery, human rights violations and trafficking in its business and supply chains during the financial year ended 31 December 2022.
The Kyowa Kirin Group's business is R&D based pharmaceuticals. The Kyowa Kirin Group strives to contribute to the health and well-being of people around the world through the pursuit of advances in life sciences and technologies.
KKI has its head office in the UK and the Kyowa Kirin Group has trading companies across Europe and the GCC which market and distribute our pharmaceutical products.
Our Principles and Policies
The Kyowa Kirin Group is committed to ensuring that there is no modern slavery or human trafficking in our supply chains or in any part of our business. We are committed to acting ethically and with integrity in all of our business relationships and to implementing and enforcing effective systems and controls to ensure slavery and human trafficking is not taking place in our business or any of our supply chains. We have a zero tolerance to slavery and human trafficking. As such, the Kyowa Kirin Group has in place a Human Rights Policy and a Procurement Policy.
We undertake appropriate right to work checks on all employees across the Kyowa Kirin Group and do not employ anyone who does not provide the appropriate documentation. This policy minimises the risk of the Kyowa Kirin Group employing anyone who has been forced to work or trafficked. We also require our employees to provide proof of age to ensure we do not employ anyone who is not of legal age to work.
Our Supply Chains
We outsource our manufacturing and packaging requirements to third parties, including the supply of active pharmaceutical ingredients.
Risk Assessment and Management
According to the Global Slavery Index, none of our suppliers are based in high-risk countries, and only a very small number are in medium-risk countries, and therefore we consider the risk of modern slavery, trafficking and / or human rights violations to be low.
Notwithstanding the low risk associated with our supply chain, we undertake regular supplier diligence, as noted below, and where concerns are identified we will take targeted remedial or preventative action, as appropriate.
The Kyowa Kirin Group is engaged in continuous improvement to its management of contracts and third party diligence and oversight with the introduction of digital tools.
Supplier Diligence
The Kyowa Kirin Group operates an ongoing supply chain surveillance exercise in order to ensure that our third party suppliers do not engage in any activities or behaviour in contravention of the Act. This includes:
- Ensuring that new supplier contracts include reference to the Act, and existing contracts are amended to do so at the earliest opportunity.
- Including compliance with the Act as part of our internal supplier Risk Management Assessment processes.
Performance Indicators
We are committed to ensuring the direction and focus of any performance incentives implemented by us do not contribute to or create a risk of modern slavery within our business or supply chain. Our policies and procedures prioritise our commitment to a zero tolerance of modern slavery over the implementation of performance incentives either in our business or to our suppliers.
Training
We require all employees to complete training annually in respect of prevention of bribery and corruption.
This Modern Slavery Act Transparency Statement was approved by the Board of Directors of Kyowa Kirin International plc on 14th June 2023.
Jeremy Morgan
President, Kyowa Kirin International plc