THE KROGER CO. CONFLICT MINERALS POLICY
Policy
The Kroger Co. ("Kroger") supports the goals of the conflict minerals provision of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the "Act"), which is to eliminate conflict minerals as a source of funding for violence and human rights violations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and adjoining countries (the "DRC"). The Act defines "conflict minerals" as cassiterite, columbite-tantalite (coltan), gold, wolframite, and their derivatives tin, tantalum and tungsten, mined under the control of armed groups in the DRC. Kroger intends to follow, in good faith, the requirements of the Act and expects all suppliers to provide information and conduct necessary diligence to enable Kroger's compliance with this law.
Supplier Expectations
Kroger expects each of the suppliers with which it contracts to manufacture its private label products that may contain conflict minerals to:
- Source minerals only from facilities outside of the DRC or that have been certified by an independent third party as "conflict free" if mined in the DRC;
- Complete the EICC-GESI Conflict Minerals reporting template;
- Make available its due diligence used in determining the source of any conflict minerals upon Kroger's request; and
- Develop policies, due diligence frameworks, and management systems that are consistent with this policy.
Communicating and Implementing the Policy
This policy is available publically on Kroger's e-commerce websites and is communicated to suppliers in writing within the Kroger standard vendor agreement. Kroger may use third party groups to assist in the further development of this policy and the collection and analysis of information provided by suppliers. Kroger intends to use standard questionnaires to collect required information whenever possible, easing the reporting burden for suppliers.