Human rights

All people have the same, inalienable rights. Respecting these human rights is very important to us. This applies both to our own company and to the employees of our suppliers and service providers.

Our goal is to avoid any human rights violations both within our own company and along the entire value chain. To this end, we oblige our suppliers to comply with environmental and social standards as well as the highest possible level of transparency. Mutual compliance with human rights forms the foundation for a trusting and lasting cooperation with our business partners.

Code of Conduct for Suppliers

In establishing our Code of Conduct for Suppliers, we have established ethical, moral and legal standards related to the sale and use of conflict minerals within the AIXTRON supply chain.

The purpose of this Code of Conduct is to:

1. inform about the law on conflict minerals,
    
2. present the risk-based due diligence process for the supply chain,
    
3. formulate the expectations of supply chain partners and suppliers and,
    
4. indicate the consequences of non-observance.

Conflict minerals

The competition for natural resources such as minerals, oil and charcoal fosters the systematic violation of human rights and environmental pollution around the world. Proceeds from the extraction of raw materials can help fuel armed conflicts and finance civil wars. Production or dismantling of these substances is often illegal and outside state control, controlled by rebel or militia groups and occurs at the expense of miners.

We conduct our business fairly and with decency and respect in all the countries in which we operate. The AIXTRON Group therefore supports the legal objectives of the US Dodd-Frank Act and the EU regulations on conflict minerals which regulates the disclosure of the origin of risk minerals used in our products. To maximise our influence and the impact of a conflict-free procurement policy, we decided to join the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI) early on.

To this end, a Group-wide management system was implemented as part of our due diligence policy. This is based on the OECD guideline for responsible supply chains of minerals from conflict-prone and high-risk regions. All direct suppliers are contacted who could potentially supply materials with conflict minerals. In the letter, they are asked to identify the countries of origin of the minerals and report them to us. If there are indications that these raw material suppliers are working with mines that have been found to have violated human rights and polluted the environment, we react resolutely and work to have this supplier critically examine the raw material supplier in question and remove him from the joint supply chain.

Complaint process for conflict minerals:

We have established a complaints mechanism that allows internal and external persons to raise concerns and complaints about the circumstances surrounding the extraction, trade and export of minerals from the conflict region, the Democratic Republic of Congo and surrounding states.

The complaint process for conflict minerals allows us to be made aware of risks in our supply chain. Our employees, suppliers and other stakeholders may direct concerns and suspected violations of the Conflict Mineral Supply Chain Policy to the following bodies:

by letter:   AIXTRON SE, Conflict Minerals Team, Dornkaulstr. 2,
                 52134 Herzogenrath, Germany

by email:   conflictminerals@aixtron.com (send e-mail)

Complaints can be submitted anonymously. Complaints are treated with the utmost confidentiality within the AIXTRON Group. We will never impose sanctions on employees who have submitted a complaint in good faith.