Supplier Code of Conduct
Our aim is to stay true to our vision and values by building trusting and open relationships with our suppliers, whilst ensuring adherence to the highest standards of ethical and professional behaviour. Apollo Scientific understands that our social and ecological footprint is far-reaching and spans far wider than the current markets in which we operate. Taking this into consideration, Apollo Scientific believes that Corporate Social Responsibility including Environmental, Social and Ethical elements, sustainable procurement and supplier governance practices are of paramount importance. It is as a result thereof, that we define our Supplier Code of Conduct below and note that this document works in a reciprocal manner, as it outlines our expectations and commitments in return.
Our employees, those of our suppliers and customers have the right to respectful treatment. We will not tolerate discrimination, harassment or victimization in the workplace or in connection with any rendered service in our supply chain. We expect our suppliers to provide the same commitment, including to their own employees, service providers and customers. Respect the diversity of every individual and embrace the challenges of the future. Proactively learn about different cultures and customs and create products desired by people around the world.
We will work constructively and collaboratively with our suppliers. We expect suppliers to be prepared to invest in their relationships with Apollo Scientific and establish trust with our staff and with other business partners involved in delivery. We also expect suppliers to be able to speak out when Apollo Scientific staff or other business partners are not upholding the values embedded in this Supplier Code of Conduct. We also expect suppliers to have an effective Whistleblower policy in place that enables individuals to raise concerns without prejudice or retaliation.
It is important that purchases from all suppliers meet the needs and specifications of Apollo Scientific. We will work together with suppliers to articulate these requirements to ensure that the goods and services being provided meet the needs and expectations of our customers.
Suppliers must comply with all applicable national and international human rights and employment laws in the jurisdictions in which they work. This also includes complying with the provisions of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and to act in accordance with the International Labour Organisation laws and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In addition, no child labour may be used, and suppliers must have robust means of ensuring that they themselves and the subcontractors in their supply chain also comply.
As our employees play a vital role in the success and functioning of our day-to-day business operations, we expect suppliers to be aligned with and support this idea. This means complying to relevant national and international employment and working conditions legislation and regulations regarding specific issues such as wages, working hours, overtime processes and fair hiring practices.
Be responsible for one’s own actions and engage in corporate activities with integrity and sincerity.
Suppliers must ensure their employees have a safe and healthy working environment in which to work, in full compliance will all applicable laws and regulations. This includes:
We expect all suppliers with whom we conduct business to be able to demonstrate the above standards and have programs in place to prevent any accidents or negative environmental impacts from occurring. We request for suppliers to have their health and safety policies and evidence of appropriate staff training available upon request.
At Apollo Scientific, acting in consideration and in a manner that reduces the negative impact of our operations on the environment is paramount in our daily business. We formalise these values through our ISO14001 standard environmental management system in place. We thus encourage all our suppliers and partners to actively consider the environment in its procurement operations and general activities through actively monitoring energy consumption and GhG emissions, with a goal of year-on-year reduction. This is a vital starting point in ensuring a greener and more sustainable approach to procurement processes. Where possible we also advocate and encourage the use of renewable energies in place of traditional fossil fuel-based sources of energy.
We encourage all our suppliers and relevant partners to be conscious and undertake sustainable water usage practices throughout their facilities. Water waste should thus be reduced where possible through more efficient processes, technological upgrades or reuse and recycling of water and wastewater where possible.
Apollo Scientific suppliers and partners should make the utmost effort to comply with all necessary national and industry specific requirements when it comes to the treatment, storage, transportation, and disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous waste. Suppliers should take action to reduce the use of unsustainable materials in terms of packaging and packing processes and aim to rely on the use of more recycled and reusable alternatives. We strongly encourage suppliers to recycle and reuse its various forms of non-hazardous waste to ensure proper disposal and waste management. Additionally, any forms of hazardous waste needs to be disposed of following appropriate health and safety standards and guidelines in order to ensure the protection and safety of the environment in which the supplier operates and the employees handling these materials.
Our aim is to ensure that risk is allocated to the party best able to manage it. To assist us in making that judgement we will, where appropriate, engage with the market to understand its views in order to make informed decisions. We do not expect suppliers or government to be made responsible for managing a risk that is best managed by a specific party. We expect suppliers not to pass down risk inappropriately to subcontractors, and not to assert that they can manage risk that is in fact better managed by Apollo Scientific.
We expect our suppliers to use recognized industry best practices in the delivery of goods and services to, or on behalf of, Apollo Scientific. We also expect suppliers to continuously improve these goods and services and bring innovation, ideas and expertise to support growth and development in the market. We will endeavour to create the right conditions to allow suppliers to innovate both during the procurement process and the life of a contract where applicable and where appropriate, we will inform suppliers of our innovation requirements during the procurement process.
Some of the goods and services that Apollo Scientific requires are complex, and no single supplier will have complete contractual responsibility for every element of what is needed to deliver to the end customer. In such cases, we will endeavour to create and maintain a culture that facilitates collaboration between all suppliers and Apollo Scientific, to ensure that the right service outcomes are achieved. In order to achieve this, we expect suppliers to be aware of how they contribute to that overall delivery, and to work collaboratively with Apollo Scientific and other suppliers to manage mutual dependencies and ensure that their product or service is used effectively in the delivery of a high-quality service.
Suppliers and all related business partners must comply with all trade and industry specific regulations, acting in good faith at all times. All chemicals/ shipments must be packaged, shipped and labelled in line with the relevant chemical shipping regulations for NDG and DG goods. Shipments should always be correctly declared with regards to identity, quantity, value and country of origin including an accompanying MSDS document matching the material in transit. Sale of goods to comply with local/ international laws and compliance with REACH regulations where appropriate. We will not work with companies who do not ship goods without the appropriate declarations and labelling and will not ship goods to companies who request us to mis-declare or mis-label shipments. We comply with all REACH legislation and perform due diligence on suppliers with regards to REACH where business levels require. We request all suppliers to ensure that goods are declared in compliance with origin rules and ensure we declare our goods accordingly.
Products and services should be fairly priced to offer sustainable value to the end customer. Whilst we accept that our suppliers make a fair profit margin in return for the risk they are accepting, and the commitments and investments they make in order to be able to deliver services for us, we expect suppliers not to exploit an incumbent or monopoly position, an urgent situation or an asymmetry of capability or information to impose opportunistic pricing.
We will seek to buy and award contracts based on value for money that includes price, quality, communication, service level and appropriate CSR criteria. We will measure supplier performance on relevant and proportionate indicators and apply proportionate contractual remedies for non- compliance.
Place the highest priority on the quality and safety of products and continue to meet customer needs.
We endeavour to work with suppliers who are proud of their reputation for fair dealing, quality delivery and who are socially responsible. We expect all parties to be mindful of the need to maintain public trust and protective of their own and Apollo Scientific’s reputation, and ensure that neither they, nor any of their business partners or subcontractors, bring parties into disrepute by engaging in any act or omission which is reasonably likely to diminish the trust that the public places in Apollo Scientific.
It is essential that suppliers safeguard the integrity and security of their systems and comply with the relevant government standards and guidance. Suppliers should also ensure the safe, and proper access, usage, handling, storage, and transfer of any personal information to be carried out with utmost care and in compliance with relevant national privacy laws.
We expect our suppliers to assist Apollo Scientific in the understanding and reduction of supply chain impacts on our environment, and risks related to labour health and safety. We expect suppliers to be open and transparent in assisting Apollo Scientific in reporting on any product or service utilisation that upstream causes adverse environmental or social impacts.
Apollo Scientific and suppliers are both expected to protect commercial and sensitive information. In addition, any information and data relating to Apollo Scientific, its partners or any of our operations in any way or form may not be shared without the adequate formally requested permission of Apollo Scientific.
We expect suppliers to mitigate appropriately against any real or perceived conflict of interest through their work with Apollo Scientific. A supplier with a position of influence gained through a purchase or contract should not use that position to unfairly disadvantage any other supplier or reduce the potential for future competition, for example by creating a technical solution that locks in the supplier’s own goods or services.
We expect the highest standards of business ethics from suppliers and their respective business partners in the supply of goods and services paid for by Apollo Scientific.
We demand that suppliers adhere to anti-corruption laws, including but not limited to the Bribery Act 2010, and anti-money laundering regulations. We expect suppliers to have robust processes to ensure that the subcontractors in their supply chain also comply with these laws. We have zero tolerance of any form of corrupt practices including extortion and fraud that we become aware of and we expect suppliers to be vigilant and proactively look for fraud, and the risk of fraud, in their business. Suppliers should immediately notify Apollo Scientific where fraudulent practice is suspected or uncovered and disclose any interests that might impact their decision-making or the advice that they give to Apollo Scientific.
We seek to be transparent in our dealings with suppliers and we expect suppliers to be open and honest in their dealings with Apollo Scientific. As part of this we value and expect our suppliers to communicate and report transparently on any and all product sourcing, production and product information in order to most accurately reflect the state of involved stakeholders and materials used.
We expect suppliers to deal fairly with the subcontractors and suppliers in their supply chain. We expect suppliers to avoid passing down unreasonable levels of risk to subcontractors who cannot reasonably be expected to manage or carry these risks. We expect suppliers not to create barriers to the use of small and medium-sized enterprises who are qualified to provide goods or services, and to encourage innovation in their supply chains to increase the value or quality of supply.
We expect suppliers to be fair and reasonable in their payment practices.
We expect our suppliers to follow equivalent good corporate governance and CSR principles underpinned by robust processes. We also expect our suppliers to be good corporate citizens by upholding the values of this Supplier Code of Conduct, taking into consideration social value legislation in delivering goods and services and supporting key corporate social responsibility policy areas such as diversity and inclusion, sustainability, skills development and addressing the gender pay gap. In terms of governance, support and work towards the realization of a society where everyone can live in comfort and good health and contribute to the protection of the global environment.
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