Because the suppliers we work with are vital to ensuring a responsible supply chain, FMC has a formal Supplier Selection and Approval Process. It involves the screening of all new significant contractors and raw material suppliers for their adherence to quality, safety, human rights standards and sustainability. FMC believes this program is vital to our ability to manage and mitigate supplier risk. Compliance with this process is tracked and reported in the form of Key Performance Indicators. In 2019, FMC surpassed its initial 2016 goal of 98% compliance and has reached 100%. Annual Supplier Selection and Approval Process training is provided to Global Procurement.
FMC Expectations of Raw Material Suppliers
We require all new significant chemical suppliers to complete a “Supplier Prequalification Form”, including questions on Safety and Health, Quality Management Systems, REACH, Transportation Safety/C-TPAT, Responsible Care, Sanctions Compliance, Responsible Sourcing, Sustainability and Financial Health. The new supplier must agree to comply with our Supplier Code of Conduct or be a member of the United Nations Global Compact. FMC then ranks the questionnaire responses. If the supplier does not meet all our requirements, risk mitigations will be put in place or we locate another source of supply. From these questionnaires, key performance indicators, such as the number of new raw material suppliers who have a Quality/Environmental Management System (ISO 14001/9001), a Responsible Sourcing policy, a Sustainability program, and a Responsible Care program, are collected and reported.
Given the large number of suppliers with which we work, we have partnered with Sedex, a not-for-profit risk management membership organization, to assist in assessing and auditing our current raw material suppliers. We have a similar partnership program with Avetta for significant contractors in North America with plans to expand the program into other regions in 2020. FMC’s risk management also includes assessment of suppliers for export compliance (prohibited parties, embargoes and trade sanctions) under the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and compliance to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). In 2019, Procurement, partnering with Regulatory, expanded our REACH program to ensure all material(s) imported into EU by FMC are REACH compliant. Additionally, in accordance with our Conflict Mineral Sourcing Policy, we screen all raw materials to determine if they contain any tin, tungsten, tantalum or gold (3TGs) and determine they are free of 3TGs.