Panasonic will attend the suppliers' actual facilities for confirmation, hearings and observations.

The report also specifically mentions human rights violations in downstream mineral suppliers, and 'ask' suppliers to 'take steps towards no longer using them and changing their source'.

p.5,6

"For the current year Panasonic conducted further self assessments of selected Japan and other overseas manufacturing companies and sites (for a total of 127 companies and sites) within the Group. Asa result of the assessment, there were 96 issues identified across 38 companies which included issues such as inadequacies in contracts between companies and recruitment agencies for employing foreign workers, hiring and promotion processes which may be discriminatory and overtime conditions for young workers".

"As a result of identifying these issues, relevant companies and sites within the Group have formulated improvement plans to be in place by August 2023. With Panasonic Holdings Corporation headquarters support, all companies and sites must complete the corrective actions by March 31, 2024".

"Addressing Issues and Findings"

When issues are found in the course of CSR self assessments, Panasonic works with suppliers to make improvements using a variety of different methods. This includes attending the suppliers actual facilities for confirmation, hearings and observations".

"Panasonic considers terminating contracts in cases where critical items in the CSR Guidelines such as issues with legal violations or prohibitions against child labour and forced labour cannot be remedied. Panasonic also continues to educate and provide its suppliers with guidance to solve minor issues in order to comply with the CSR Guidelines".

"Where we find human rights violations in downstream mineral suppliers in our supply chain, we also ask our suppliers to take steps towards no longer using them and changing their source".

"Panasonic places significant emphasis on addressing high priority matters and putting in place improvement programs with effective timelines".

"integration of Findings Across the Panasonic Group and Action Taking"

" Panasonic has also established a group wide Supply Chain compliance project to promote responsible procurement across the whole Group. The Heads of Procurement in each of the Panasonic Operating Companies are responsible for implementing appropriate solutions to address issues through group wide regular meetings and reporting".

...

"Grievance Mechanism and Remediation"

"In order for us to respond quickly to remedy any complaints we receive related to human rights violations, Panasonic has established a global hotline (supporting 32 languages) as a point of contact where our employees or external business partners and their employees can report any compliance violations which they have become aware of, including those issues involving human rights or labour. This hotline uses an external independent system that provides protections and confidentiality to those that report such matters".