Society

Murata has set targets for FY2025 through FY2027 and is working toward achieving sustainable procurement that ensures compliance with laws and respect for labor (human rights), the environment, and health and safety throughout the entire supply chain.

Murata issues the Sustainable Procurement Guidelines to help suppliers understand our concept of sustainable procurement. The Guidelines are distributed to all suppliers, and as a condition for starting business with Murata, we request that they sign a “Sustainable Procurement Guidelines Agreement,” practice the Guidelines (covering human rights, health and safety, environment, ethics, information security, etc.), and extend them to their supply chains. In FY2025, we attained a Guidelines compliance contract rate of 93%.

As with self-assessments, Murata conducts CSR audits for significant suppliers and suppliers identified as requiring review based on EcoVadis assessments and verification results, focusing on the following areas.

• Confirmation of improvement status through CSR audits conducted on approximately 100 suppliers from FY2022 to FY2024 and confirmation of compliance against the revised RBA/VAP requirements
• Based on the EcoVadis sustainability performance assessments conducted for all suppliers, confirmation of CSR compliance status against RBA/VAP requirements

In addition, we closely review the self-assessment results and conduct additional audits as needed to detect and respond to potential risks at an early stage.

At Murata, we view audits not just as a means of identifying issues but also as opportunities for suppliers to raise their CSR compliance levels. As the level of understanding and compliance differs from one supplier to another, we undertake the following measures.

• Before the audit: We check online information about the supplier, their level of CSR understanding, and the status of past audits, and, as necessary, we explain CSR, the RBA, and the VAP and provide guidance on audit methods.
• During the audit: We explain the RBA/VAP requirements, provide advice on collecting evidence, and support the correction of non-conformities, with the aim of embedding these practices within the supplier’s operations.
• After the audit: We analyze the causes of non-conformities in light of each supplier’s situation and discuss and explain specific corrective measures.

Through on-site verification, employee interviews, and detailed reviews of policies, procedures, and records, audits accurately assess conditions that cannot be understood from documentation alone, aiming to deepen understanding of non-conformities and embed corrective practices.

[CSR audit cases]

[Evaluation ranks and results]

Corrective action

Suppliers are categorized into three ranks –A, B, or C– based on their CSR risk levels, following a similar approach to the self-assessment process. If non-conformities are identified, Murata requests the suppliers to take corrective actions and provides support to resolve the problems, regardless of their ranks. For C-ranked suppliers, Murata performs a re-audit after they have completed corrective actions, to verify the effectiveness of the actions.
The FY2025 CSR audit results showed that 7 suppliers were ranked A, 21 were ranked B, and none were ranked C.
The major non-conformities identified and the initiatives taken to address them are as follows.
We notify the suppliers of each of these on the day of the audit, immediately engage in on-site discussions, and provide advice on corrective actions.

Non-conformity	Initiatives for corrections
Protection and risk assessment for pregnant women and women with childcare responsibilities	While operational considerations are often in place, risk assessments for pregnant women and women with childcare responsibilities are insufficient. Based on the RBA requirements and local laws, we are advancing efforts to compile them into a formalized list.
Evacuation route maps and emergency exit signs	To ensure people can evacuate without confusion in an emergency, suppliers are installing evacuation route maps with arrows and emergency exit signs at key locations, tailored to each site’s specific conditions.
Health and safety risk assessments	For chemical substances, there are examples of implementation to meet legal requirements. However, there are also cases where procedures are not in place or where risk assessments concerning equipment and worker exposure are insufficient. At the mass-production stage, we are building a system for continuous evaluation, for example, by using safety patrols.
Initiatives to reduce greenhouse gases	Suppliers measure their greenhouse gas emissions, set targets, and work on reductions. As there is variation in how individual suppliers approach this, we also provide individual support.

Dialogues with suppliers

Through CSR audits, Murata engages in direct dialogues with suppliers to communicate the significance of adhering to its procurement policies and Guidelines. These audits also serve as a platform for exchanging views on the suppliers’ compliance with the Guidelines and any challenges they face, fostering collaborative discussions to identify solutions. As a result of these audits, Murata has received words of gratitude from suppliers.

Before the audit
Murata holds one-on-one briefings with the suppliers to explain the audit's purposes and methods/items, as well as the necessity of complying with its guidelines and fulfilling corporate social responsibilities.

On the day of the audit
Murata not only identifies non-conformities but also explains their causes and collaborates with the suppliers to determine corrective actions through discussions.

After the audit (corrective actions)
Murata proposes specific corrective actions and provides advice based on each supplier's situation, collaborating with them to address the non-conformities.

Capacity building
To strengthen the ability to respond to social and environmental issues across the entire supply chain, the Murata Group is working on capacity building (support for raising capabilities) for its suppliers.
Rather than treating CSR audits and environmental initiatives as mere occasions for confirmation or requests, we take them as opportunities for learning and dialogue, helping suppliers understand the issues and pursue improvements on their own initiative.

Education through CSR audits
To address issues such as human rights and labor, health and safety, the environment, and ethics, the Murata Group conducts CSR audits in accordance with the RBA Code of Conduct.
In addition to confirming conformity and non-conformity, the audits share — through dialogue — the background to the findings, international approaches to these issues, and the expected management practices, supporting suppliers in taking the initiative to implement corrective actions and prevent recurrence.
Through this approach, we are developing audits from “occasions for confirmation” into “occasions for learning and improvement,” and enhancing the responsiveness of the entire supply chain.

Education through decarbonization initiatives
Climate change countermeasures are an important issue that must be addressed across the entire supply chain. Category 1 (purchased goods and services) accounts for a large share of Murata’s Scope 3 GHG emissions, underscoring the importance of collaborating with our suppliers.
Through environmental activity policy briefings and one-on-one dialogues, the Murata Group shares its thinking on decarbonization and sustainable use of resources and supports suppliers’ efforts to calculate and reduce their GHG emissions. Through these initiatives, we are helping suppliers consider and advance decarbonization measures tailored to their own situations.
Link: Create a decarbonized society

Awards program

Murata recognizes suppliers that have given us great assistance in achieving sustainable procurement, in addition to their contributions to improving quality and delivery, reducing costs, and advancing technological innovation, by presenting them with letters of appreciation. Through this commendation, Murata conveys its gratitude to suppliers and seeks to build a continuous relationship of trust.

Recognition examples:

• Investing in equipment and adopting recycled solutions to eliminate toluene –a solvent harmful to human health– from the manufacturing processes
• Visualizing recycle rates and achieving horizontal recycling for specific product types

Initiatives

Under the common understanding that protection and conservation of the global environment is imperative for the sound and continuous development of the human society, countries around the world are rapidly enacting environmental protection laws and regulations. Against this backdrop, Murata established the Murata Group EHS Disaster Prevention Policy as one of the codes of practice for Murata’s corporate slogan and management philosophy and is working on environmental conservation.

For our parts procurement activities, we declare “environmentally-friendly parts procurement” in our procurement code of conduct and promote prioritized procurement from suppliers that actively engage in environmental initiatives, including manufacturing products with minimal environmental burden (green procurement). Through these efforts, Murata is striving to reduce the environmental burden across its entire supply chain.

Link: Murata Group EHS Disaster Prevention Policy

Green procurement

In order to reduce the environmental load of products, "green procurement" is required to procure materials with a low environmental load. At Murata, we ask for the understanding and cooperation of suppliers in putting environmental management into practice.

When conducting new business, we ask that our partners address global environmental problems, such as climate change and environmental pollution, in line with the “Murata Group Sustainable Procurement Guidelines.” Moreover, in addition to asking to verify the certification status of suppliers under environmental management systems (ISO 14001, etc.), we audit the state of chemical substance control at the manufacturing sites to determine whether we can do business with a supplier. After we have started doing business with a supplier, we ask them to periodically fill out the CSR Checklist and continuously verify the status of initiatives for environmental problems and the results of improvement at suppliers.

Link: Green procurement

Climate change countermeasures and use of sustainable resources

With the changing global environment, promoting decarbonization and fostering a recycling-based society have emerged as key themes. Murata promotes climate change countermeasures and use of sustainable resources to contribute to the realization of sustainable society.
Category 1 (purchased goods and services) accounts for over half of Murata’s Scope3 GHG emissions. For this reason, it is essential to have the cooperation of suppliers to promote our efforts for reducing GHG emissions.

Following the previous fiscal year, Murata held its FY2025 environmental activity policy briefing, attended by more than 230 suppliers. At this briefing, an external lecturer was invited to share topics including the latest trends in GHG matters and the risks of failing to work on reducing GHG emissions, with the aim of further raising suppliers’ awareness. We also continue to conduct one-on-one interviews, providing suppliers with support for calculating Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions and advancing discussions on initiatives to reduce GHG emissions going forward. From the standpoint of sustainable resource use, we track the use of recycled materials through close communication with suppliers and are working to further promote their introduction.

Link: Reduction of GHG Scope3
Link: Efforts for use of sustainable resources

Collaborations with industry organizations

Murata participates as a member of JEITA (Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association) and as a member of the CMP Consortium, whose purpose is “to contribute to the realization of a sustainable society by promoting the proper and efficient management and communication of information on chemical substances contained in products and information on resource circulation.” We are actively cooperating with industry organizations on issues that are difficult to solve as an individual company such as creating industry-wide frameworks.

Link: CMP Consortium
Link: Member List
Link: JEITA (Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association)
Link: JEITA Members

Concerns about forced labor, child labor, and other human rights risks in the supply chain are increasing. As an initiative to reduce these risks, at Murata we also ask suppliers to observe the Guidelines while also monitoring the state of compliance through the self-assessment and initiating corrections as needed. In addition, we conduct CSR audits for significant suppliers and for suppliers identified as requiring review based on EcoVadis assessment results and various verification results, in order to identify human rights risks and confirm the status of improvements. Based on the results, we work on improvements through discussions between Murata and the suppliers. These initiatives are conducted based on the concept of human rights due diligence, with the aim of identifying, preventing, and mitigating human rights risks across the entire supply chain. Furthermore, regarding forced labor, child labor, and other human rights violations under harsh labor environments at small-scale mines, Murata actively promotes responsible mineral procurement activities and appropriately discloses information in response to customer demand.

Link: Murata Group Human Rights Policy
Link: Declaration regarding the modern slavery act (United Kingdom)
Link: For all stakeholders (Japan Center for Engagement and Remedy on Business and Human Rights (JaCER))(*Link to Japanese language page)

In order to provide a stable supply to our customers even in times of emergency, the Murata group deepens its ties with its partners on a regular basis and advances the following initiatives.

Emergency situations

Earthquakes, tsunami, fire, floods and other wide-area disasters, accidents, compliance violations, infectious disease, and other unforeseen circumstances

BCP (Business Continuity Planning) procurement initiative

• Prior collection of information to be used in an emergency and a rapid initial response
  To verify the damage suffered by business partners, their safety status, and supply conditions in times of emergency, we have created a database of manufacturing locations and related information. The database includes secondary business partners.
  We are building a system to quickly extract information about business partners for verification alongside disaster information, particularly during urgent natural disasters, and we are developing a rapid initial response system.
• BCP/BCM survey of business partners
  In addition to surveying business partners regarding the status of BCP initiatives, we are requiring them to promote BCP activities as needed.

To achieve a sustainable society together with the entire supply chain, it is essential for buyers to practice sustainable procurement. As part of the necessary training for procurement activities, Murata provides sustainable procurement education on topics such as human rights and labor, health and safety, environment, and information security to buyers, based on the Guidelines, upon their assignment, and once a year thereafter. Additionally, to maintain compliance with fair-transaction requirements, we provide annual e-learning seminars for buyers on the Proper Transactions Act. The participation rate in FY2025 was 100% for both training programs.

Link: Respect for Human Rights
Link: Information security
Link: ESG data collection

As part of its sustainable procurement activities, Murata conducts surveys in compliance with industry standards and provides information in accordance with its response policy.
Furthermore, as an internal framework, the Sustainability Committee, chaired by the president, shares information with top management on activities, progress, and any issues regarding responsible mineral procurement, and makes any resulting decisions.

We have established a response policy to promote responsible mineral procurement and are building a system to manage the potential for any Annex Ⅱ risks in CAHRAs for target minerals included in our products. We conduct surveys in compliance with the RMAP^*4 industry standard and evaluations in accordance with internal standards to identify smelters and refiners in the supply chain. If we discover the use of high-risk smelters and refiners, we communicate the details of these risks to our suppliers and require that they switch to RMAP-certified smelters and refiners.
Through repeated communication, we have succeeded in helping our suppliers transition to RMAP-certified smelters.

Every year, Murata receives over 5,000 customer requests to provide supply chain information. Based on the results of responses from our suppliers, we report this information based on the CMRT and EMRT issued by the RMI^*5.

Efforts for compliance with 5-Step framework of OECD Due Diligence Guidance

In order to reduce the Annex Ⅱ risks of human rights violations in CAHRAs, such as human rights violations for 3TG and cobalt in our products, Murata is committed to the following initiatives in compliance with the OECD Due Diligence Guidance.

At Murata, we regularly conduct surveys of our suppliers to check for Annex Ⅱ risks concerning CAHRAs for the relevant minerals contained in their products. As a result of the responsible minerals survey conducted in fiscal 2025 across 230 major suppliers, we confirmed that the percentage of RMAP-certified smelters is 92% of all smelters. Through previous conflict mineral surveys, we confirmed that our mainstay products, such as multilayer ceramic capacitors, inductors, thermistors, and ceramic resonators, are already Annex II risk-free.

Fiscal 2025 responsible mineral procurement survey results

Murata broadly recognizes three issues and believes that it is important to advance initiatives to solve these issues.

Murata is a member company of industry organizations such as the JEITA “Responsible Minerals Trade Working Group” and RMI^*7. We are proactively working on issues that are difficult to solve as an individual company, such as creating industry-wide frameworks.

Initiative (1):
For cobalt, there are still many refiners that do not participate in the RMAP. As a member of the JEITA “Smelter Support Team”^*8, we carry out activities to encourage smelters and refiners that do not participate in RMAP to undergo the validation process.

Initiative (2):
We participate in the operation of the “Responsible Minerals Sourcing Inquiry Briefings” hosted by JEITA and share the latest information with suppliers and many other companies through these briefings to educate and enlighten them so as to deepen their understanding of the importance of this initiative.

Initiative (3):
Regarding worries about the risks of new minerals, we are clarifying the problems, proposing mechanisms, and engaging in other active debates at the JEITA working group to make proposals to RMI so that RMAP support may proceed in an efficient manner.

Suppliers can use our consultation service in the event an apparent legal, regulatory, or ethical violation, or a risk thereof, is detected in dealings with the Murata Group.
Murata also has a dedicated online consultation service where people can seek consultation anonymously if they desired. The service accepts consultation requests from Japan and abroad. In Japan, Murata offers this service to suppliers when starting business with them.

Consultation requests are received by the compliance department at each Murata Group company, which will coordinate with relevant organizations as necessary and take necessary measures for investigation and rectification.
Murata will protect the anonymity and privacy of the consulting individual, as well as ensure that nothing detrimental will occur to such individuals as a result of seeking consultation.
We are bolstering our stance on compliance by continually informing suppliers of this consultation service as well as encouraging them to use this service when necessary.

Link: Compliance
Link: Consultation Window for Business Partners (suppliers)