Business & Human Rights Resource Centre invited Sony to respond to concerns from workers relating to the detrimental impacts of buyers' halting sourcing from Kawaguchi and to answer the following questions to understand how this is happening in line with responsible procurement principles.

• Having confirmed termination of sourcing from Kawaguchi, please confirm
  • The date this took effect or will take effect from.
  • Which stakeholders (if any) did you consult with and how prior to taking this decision?
• Are you aware of reports workers are still owed outstanding wages and unauthorised salary deductions?
• Does your company commit to remediate the unpaid wages and other labour violations for workers? If so, by when is it anticipated this will be complete?

Response from Sony

... Sony's policy is to review its business relationship with a supplier if a serious violation of the Sony Supply Chain Code of Conduct is confirmed or if the supplier fails to cooperate fully in an investigation or audit.

As regarding the questioned supplier, in accordance with the above policy, we have conducted the investigations including an on-site audit by a third-party auditor and our direct communications with the company. Through these investigations, we have reason to believe there were violations of the Code at the company. Accordingly, we requested the company to promptly implement corrective measures including appropriate payment to workers, proper management of working hours, and improvement of living condition of its dormitory. Since then, we have requested the company to report on the progress of its corrective measures. However, no significant progress has been confirmed, and apparently the company's business conditions have substantially been deteriorating. In light of these circumstances, we have had to concluded to discontinue the transaction with the company. We are now shifting our focus to collaborate with RBA and some other organizations to explore reasonable support and remedies for the affected migrant workers.