To ensure that our direct suppliers comply with our Business Partner Standards, we regularly conduct risk analyses.

We use regular database research and other processes to discover any violations of our sustainability and compliance rules by our current suppliers. We systematically follow up all reports of violations.

We use the industry-wide questionnaire on sustainability from the European sustainability initiative Drive Sustainability (Self-Assessment Questionnaire - SAQ) to inquire our main suppliers about their sustainability management and their communication of these requirements to their upstream value chains. On the basis of the results, measures are defined to improve their sustainability performance.

The SAQ is reviewed and updated biennially and this latest update (SAQ 5.0) incorporated new content to reflect the growing focus on environmental and human rights practices in the supply chain due to new legislation and the need for companies to demonstrate effective due diligence in this area.

The new content of the SAQ 5.0 covers the following areas:

• Details on any human rights reporting - its existence and scope.
• More detailed questions relating to a supplier’s grievance mechanism/complaints procedure - focusing on its content and management.
• Additional topics added within a number of the policy area questions to reflect the desire to understand if specific focus is being given by suppliers to emerging requirements.
• The use of renewable energy - percentage of electricity and heating/cooling that uses renewable sources to be provided.
• Details on any Greenhouse Gas (GHG) reduction targets set including Scope 3 emissions.
• Understanding if the supplier uses any Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) or is involved in the import/export of hazardous waste.
• New materials added to the list used to assess the responsible sourcing of raw materials e.g. chromium, cotton, polysilicon, magnesium etc.

A series of briefings were conducted to help users understand more about the SAQ 5.0 update. The links to the SAQ 5.0 briefing recordings (in multiple languages) can be found on a dedicated SAQ 5.0 page on the SUPPLIERASSURANCE website.

The easiest way to learn about the changes between SAQ 4.0 and SAQ 5.0 is to access the SAQ 5.0 Change Record. The Change Record compares all SAQ 4.0 questions with the corresponding SAQ 5.0 questions and provides an overview of the changes.

You can also access the Presentation used during the briefings to get an overview of the changes between SAQ 4.0 and SAQ 5.0, as well as the FAQ page.

We have established a complaint-management process that enables individuals to draw attention to possible human rights violations at suppliers. In this context, we work together closely with the world employee committee. We bring together all the available information and take action if the reports are well founded. The suppliers are requested to respond to the accusations; after that, we assess the facts of the case and take the necessary measures. This can lead to the termination of a business relationship. However, it is not always productive to end cooperation with a supplier immediately after a case of misconduct. It often makes more sense to work together with the supplier to improve the situation. This approach also benefits the people at the location. In addition to the complaint-management process, information on misconduct can always be submitted to the SpeakUp whistleblower system established by Daimler Truck.