Sustainability

Building an internal controls system

The board of directors of each company in the ANA Trading Group has outlined policies to ensure fair operations (8 basic policies for internal control systems) based on the provisions of the Companies Act. The companies have built internal control systems in accordance with those policies and implement PDCA based on regular monitoring to ensure compliance. To further enhance overall Group internal controls, in July 2008, we created the CSR Promotion Committee, which is chaired by the president and underwent a name change in April 2021 to the Sustainability Promotion Committee. The Committee oversees five special subcommittees: the Compliance Risk Management Committee, the Environmental Management Committee, the Food Safety Committee, the International Security Trade Control Committee, and the Consumer Product Quality Control Committee.

Corporate governance structure map

Compliance Promotion System

We regularly remind all executives and employees that they are required to comply with the ANA Group Compliance Regulations as well as our own compliance regulations, and to act ethically.
The Compliance Risk Management Committee specifies important compliance policies, and members of this committee are appointed as Sustainability Promoters Managers by each division of each group company and ANA Trading Co., Ltd. to promote compliance in their respective businesses.
These initiatives related to compliance are regularly reported to the Sustainability Promotion Committee and, as necessary, reported to the Management Committee and the Board of Directors. Furthermore, we use the ANA Alert helpline established with the ANA Group as the consultation desk that promotes the early discovery of compliance issues.

Environment

ANA Trading Group Environmental Principles & Environmental Policy

<ANA Trading Group Environmental Principles>

  • The mindset to value the environment starts with recognition of the burden we place on the Earth.
  • We will use natural resources and energy with care and contribute to attaining a prosperous and sustainable society.
  • We will take the initiative in environment conservation activities and share our care for the Earth with people around the world.

<ANA Trading Group Environmental Policy>

The ANA Trading Group recognizes that environmental conservation initiatives aimed at preserving limited resources and the global environment are critical management issues. We strive to achieve an enriched society by practicing the high-add-value use of resources and applying a long-term perspective to all Group activities.

  1. We work to accurately ascertain and analyze the environmental impact of our business activities. We then apply this analysis towards making continuous quality improvements to our environmental conservation activities.
  2. We promote autonomous action to ensure we are contributing to reducing environmental load in all our engagements with customers and business partners in addition to legal and regulatory compliance.
  3. We position the development and dissemination of materials and products that help reduce environmental load as a critical mission in our development and provision of products and services.
  4. We continuously consider the environmental impact of our supply chain and promote environmentally friendly procurement.
  5. We contribute to society by proactively engaging in the 4Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Renewable) and aggressively working to reduce waste.
  6. We work to improve individual awareness of environmental conservation among all Group employees.

Society

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

In accordance with the ANA Group Diversity & Inclusion Declaration, we promote diverse workstyles as well as work to develop our workplace environment and corporate culture.

<ANA Group Diversity & Inclusion Declaration>

Valuing the three elements of

  • Diversity (of race, nationality, religion, culture, age, disability status, gender, sexual orientation and sexual identity, values, experience, work styles, etc.),
  • Equity (of support commensurate with diversity and of fair opportunities for growth and challenge), and
  • Inclusion (understanding of individual differences and awareness of mutual support as a team),

we respect the diversity of our employees and, by creating a workplace where anyone can flourish, we will strive to make society better.

Main DEI Promotion Initiatives

Awareness reform

  • Promote diversity management learning opportunities for organization heads
  • Conduct e-learning

Promote engagement of women in the workplace

  • Percentage of female managers 15.1% (as of March 2023)

Career support

  • Established career continuation support desk
  • Job return system
  • Career design training

Work-life balance support

  • Reduced work hours
  • Provide seminars providing knowledge and information useful for balancing childcare/family care and worklife
  • Mother care service registry
  • Daycare search support concierge
  • Joint user agreements with privately operated daycare centers
  • Promote childcare leave use by male employees

Promote diverse workstyles

  • Promote use of flex-time system (FY2022 average monthly overtime hours worked per person: 10.4 hours)
  • Promote telecommuting
  • Promote use of paid time off (FY2022 rate of use of paid time off: 49.56%)
  • Establish side-gig guidelines

Promote hiring of persons with disabilities

External evaluation

Received the highest grade of 3-star Eruboshi from the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare as an excellent company under Eruboshi Certification.

FY2023 “PRIDE INDEX 2023”, conducted by PRIDE Index Secretariat at work with Pride

ANA Group’s social responsibility guidelines

To further strengthen the foundation of ESG management, the ANA Trading Group, a member of the ANA Group , has also established the Social Responsibility Guidelines which all Group employees must follow, including transferred, part-time and temporary employees.
As a code of conduct that embodies“contributing toward a better society in good faith and fairness,” we seek to promote understanding and disemminate the concept throughout the company by educating employees.
The top management of each ANA Trading Group company is leading by example in promoting the concept thoroughly within their companies, and encourages business partners to follow suit.

  • We will commit to accurately understand the laws and regulations relevant to our operations and act in accordance with them.
  • In addition to following corporate policies and rules,we will seek to be fair and sincere in all our actions.
  • All business transactions and relationships will be in accordance with laws and regulations,as well as social standards.

ANA Group Procurement Policy

The ANA Group will contribute to the creation of its social value not only by providing safe and secure services,but also by taking the initiative in local and global procurement activities with consideration for both the environment and society.
As part of these efforts, we established the following “ANA Group Procurement Policy” to promote sustainable procurement activities throughout the supply chain.
ANA Trading Group, a member of the ANA Group, conducts procurement activities in accordance with the ANA Group Procurement Policy.

It requires suppliers to respect and comply with international norms in human rights and labor, including prohibition of child labor and forced labor. The Policy, moreover, is used as a benchmark in the selection of business partners as well as a tool for periodic post-selection monitoring. Through these measures, the ANA Group works actively to gain the understanding and cooperation of partner firms.

Governance

Risk Management

The ANA Trading Group has established the Compliance Risk Management Committee and the Safety Planning Department to prevent emergency situations and ensure rapid responses in the event of an emergency situation. These functions oversaw emergency response during the FY2010 New Influenza Pandemic and the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.
Since 2013, all Group companies have adopted a management system entailing full employee participation-based risk preventative measures. Through this management system, companies use CSA (Control Self-Assessment) to identify risks and then hold risk conferences aimed at sharing risk information on an organizational level to help prevent the occurrence of risks.

Enhancement of information security

To enhance our information security, The ANA Trading Group has drafted the ANA Trading Group Information Security Manual, which outlines provisions related to information security systems of responsibility, information removal, storage, and disposal, and the management of confidential information.
We reevaluated existing information management rules to identify three vital characteristics of information management: information confidentiality, information integrity, and business continuity (availability). The Sustainability Promotion Department takes the lead in raising awareness of information security and permeating it throughout the individual Group companies, including conducting training and holding seminars. Furthermore, the ANA Group provides education using e-learning to promote the acquisition of knowledge related to information security. The ANA Trading Group also receives this education and training and is making efforts toward information security education and awareness.

Quality Management

The ANA Trading Group conducts food safety education and enlightenment activities, inspections, and audits on a continuous basis to ensure our ability to provide our customers with security and peace of mind regarding food. To prevent an impact on customer health in the unlikely event of a food incident, we have established a Food Safety Committee, for which food safety management supervisors are selected from business divisions and Group companies. This committee promotes improvements to daily work administration and information sharing to ensure our ability to guarantee food safety.
Furthermore, our entire Group is involved in obtaining external quality management system certifications such as ISO and the Tokyo Metropolitan Food Hygiene Self-Management Certification System as part of our efforts to further improve our work quality and hygiene management levels as a business that handles food.
To ensure we acquire appropriate knowledge concerning the Food Labeling Act enacted in 2015, we encouraged Group employees to take the food label certification test as a way to increase the level of knowledge for the entire Group.

To establish a system for import/export administration, we created a Trade Control Committee, whose members and a trade control supervisor are designated from among divisions and Group companies involved in import and export operations. This committee implements strict internal controls and works to strengthen our security export control system. The last several years, we have continued to increase the number of transactions with overseas businesses and import/export operations have increased. In response, we work continuously to maintain our export control system by regularly updating regulations related to export control while also ensuring consistency with actual operations.
Our Group is certified by the Director General of Japan Customs as an AEO Business, which is recognition of our organized system for cargo security management and legal compliance. As an AEO Business, we will continue working to ensure both security for international trade and smooth operations.

Lastly, to ensure quality control for miscellaneous items such as clothing, accessories, and toys, we established a Consumer Products Quality Control Committee, whose members and managing supervisor are designated from among divisions and Group companies involved with these various products. This committee works to ensure quality control based on the Consumer Goods Quality Control Regulations and Quality Standards.
To ensure the safety and peace of mind of our consumers, as necessary we consign testing institutions and other external experts to conduct inspections and testing before selecting the products we will offer to customers.
We also conduct regular training led by external instructors to ensure we acquire the knowledge and skills necessary for quality control operations related to customer safety.