Ethical sourcing is an important focus of The Walt Disney Company’s overall corporate responsibility efforts. We are committed to respecting human rights, monitoring the safety and integrity of products, and reducing the environmental footprint of our supply chain.
Disney’s International Labor Standards (ILS) Program evaluates and helps improve working conditions in facilities producing Disney-branded products. Disney’s ILS Program is administered by a dedicated staff of over 100 professionals located in 13 countries around the world. The breadth and diversity of our consumer products business means that Disney-branded products are produced in tens of thousands of facilities in approximately 100 countries.
Given the scope of the business and the fact that many Disney-branded consumer product agreements are licensing relationships, we face unique challenges in achieving and monitoring performance against our high expectations and requirements. Nevertheless, Disney continues to develop innovative approaches to manage this extended supply chain. We work collaboratively with our licensees and vendors to educate them about labor rights expectations, require social compliance audits to assess labor conditions, and work with external organizations to foster safe, inclusive and respectful workplaces wherever Disney-branded products are made.
We are committed to conducting business and creating products in an ethical manner. As part of a responsible supply chain, Disney’s International Labor Standards Program seeks to foster safe, inclusive, and respectful workplaces wherever Disney-branded products are made.
Code of Conduct for Manufacturers
The requirements of Disney’s International Labor Standards program are described in the ILS Program Manual. These requirements are intended to enable Disney and its Licensees and Vendors to gain greater visibility into the working conditions of Facilities in which Disney-branded products are produced and to promote continuous improvement in meeting the requirements of the Disney Code and the objectives of the ILS Program.
Improving labor conditions around the world is a collaborative effort, and we count on the expertise of external stakeholders to help us achieve our goals. We work closely with these stakeholders through our participation in various programs and initiatives, and through our Supply Chain Investment Program which funds innovative and impactful projects that seek to create scalable, long-term improvements in working conditions and the empowerment of workers.
We rely on a dedicated, competitive, world-class supplier base to collaborate with our sourcing professionals and work within our infrastructure to bring the Disney magic to our customers and guests around the world.
We believe that including diverse suppliers in our sourcing process provides us the greatest opportunity to develop the most innovative, highest quality, and most cost-effective business solutions. Through direct experience, we know this strengthens our company on the inside and supports communities on the outside. We strive to ensure that our business leaders have a broad understanding of the business case for working with diverse suppliers and the competitive advantage that a robust Supplier Diversity process provides the company. We invite you to be part of the magic!
View Supplier Diversity Website
Disney is dedicated to identifying and engaging suppliers that share our commitment to quality, service, cost and sustainability. Supplier Sustainability serves to partner with and support not only our knowledgeable and talented Sourcing & Procurement team, but all other areas of the Company, in working to identify, develop and implement sustainability-oriented business practices, evaluating and expanding our supply bases and delivering products and services whose life cycles have been taken into consideration.
The safety of all products bearing the brands, characters and other intellectual property of The Walt Disney Company is of crucial concern to us.
Our Product Integrity Program administers Disney’s policies, procedures and operating requirements designed to help us achieve our safety objectives and commitments. Disney requires that all independent licensees and vendors engaged in the production of Disney-branded products contractually commit to comply with all applicable regulatory requirements and any additional requirements that may be specified by Disney. Disney also requires that licensees and vendors contractually commit to follow reasonable and proper procedures for verifying that Disney-branded products comply with all applicable regulatory requirements by conducting safety tests using accredited and independent testing facilities and following other procedures to confirm compliance with applicable requirements.
To promote compliance with these undertakings and to help ensure the safety of Disney-branded products, the Product Integrity Program engages in monitoring activities that include requiring designated licensees and vendors to submit product safety testing reports or other compliance documentation to Disney and subjecting Disney-branded products to periodic, risk-based auditing programs to confirm continuing compliance.
Disney is committed to a continuous review of our product safety policies, procedures and operating requirements to help ensure that our approach results in Disney-branded products that meet, or exceed, current regulatory requirements and any additional Disney requirements, follows developments in our complex global consumer products business and reflects Disney’s commitment to product safety. Disney implements changes to the Product Integrity Program as appropriate and is committed to communicating our approach to all concerned parties.
Our long-term goal is to minimize our product footprint. In 2010, Disney developed some common approaches and targets around this goal. Our company-wide targets are focused on two areas in particular: the sourcing of raw materials, especially as it relates to sustainable paper use, and holding our manufacturing suppliers to a higher standard of environmental responsibility. In fiscal year 2011, strategic suppliers of key Disney product lines completed an Environmental Responsibility Index survey that will serve as a baseline for measuring future improvement. In 2011, Disney also identified apparel, accessories, plush, and toys as key product lines that will be measured for improvement.