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Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation Rules Governing the Preparation and Filing of Corporate Social Responsibility Reports by TWSE Listed Companies(2015.10.19) |
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Article 1
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These Rules are established according to Paragraph 3, Article 47 of the Operating Rules of the Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation.
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Article 2
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Where a listed company is under one of the following circumstances, it shall prepare and file a corporate social responsibility report in Chinese according to these Rules.
- At the end of the most recent fiscal year, the company falls into the food industry, chemical industry and financial and insurance industry prescribed in the Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation Key Points for Classifying and Adjusting Categories of Industries of Listed Companies.
- The financial report for the most recent fiscal year submitted pursuant to Article 36 of the Securities and Exchange Act indicates that no less than 50% of the company's revenue is derived from food and beverage.
- The financial report for the most recent fiscal year submitted pursuant to Article 36 of the Securities and Exchange Act indicates that the company's capital stock has achieved no less than NT$5 billion, provided this may apply from 2017 where the capital stock totals less than NT$10 billion, and from 2019 in the event of accumulated lossesin the annual final accounts.
The term "financial report" referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 means the consolidated financial report prepared in accordance with the "regulations governing the preparation of financial reports by specific industries" made and promulgated by the competent authorities. If a listed company has no subsidiary, the financial report means an individual financial report.
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Article 3
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A listed company which meets the requirements under Article 2 of the Rules shall prepare a corporate social responsibility report for the preceding year by referring to the newest Sustainability Reporting Guidelines published and Sector Guidance by the Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI) and other applicable rules according to its sector features. In accordance with the Sustainability Reporting Guidelines, the company shall apply the core option, and identified material aspects of economic, environmental and social categories, disclosures on management approach, performance indicators and its evaluation method shall be reported.
In the corporate social responsibility report, a listed company shall disclose the GRI Content Index referring to the Sustainability Reporting Guidelines and specify in the index tables whether the disclosure items have been assured, verified or certified by a third party.
The performance indicator referred to in Paragraph 1 shall be evaluated and disclosed by adopting the standards in compliance with the rules of the competent authorities. If the competent authorities have not promulgated the applicable standards, the company shall adopt the approach of evaluation commonly used in practice.
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Article 4
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In addition to the content referred to in the preceding article, the corporate social responsibility report prepared by a listed company shall emphasize the following matters.
- Listed companies within the food industry and those prescribed under Subparagraph 2, Paragraph 1, Article 2 of the Rules shall disclose their specific management approach and performance indicators concerning the aspects of supply chain management and procurement practices, protection of customer health and safety, product and service labeling and legal compliance. The performance indicators shall include at least the following items:
- The evaluation and improvement regarding the company's personnel, work environment, hygiene management of facilities and quality control system to improve food sanitation, safety and quality, as well as the significant product categories and the percentage affected.
- The applicable laws relating to the management of food safety and sanitation which the listed company shall observe, as well as the types and number of incidents of violation by the listed company against the aforesaid laws.
- The percentage of the listed company's purchased volume in accordance with internationally recognized responsible production standards.
- The percentage of the production volume manufactured in sites certified by an independent third party according to internationally recognized food safety management system standards.
- The number and percentage of suppliers audited by the listed company, and the audit items and results.
- The product trace and track management conducted by the listed company voluntarily or according to the applicable laws, and the percentage of such relevant products to the whole products.
- The food safety laboratories established by the listed company voluntarily or according to the applicable laws, testing items, testing results, relevant expenses and the percentage of such expenses to the net revenue.
- Listed companies within the chemical industry shall disclose the specific effective mechanism and actions that the listed companies and their supply chains adopt to decrease the negative impact of their products, activities, or services on the environment, to protect the personnel's vocational health and safety and the interested public's lives and property security. The disclosure shall include at least the management of the production or delivery of the raw material, supplies, end products, emergency response measures against accidents inside and outside the factories and the relevant performance indicator.
- Listed companies within the financial and insurance industry shall enhance disclosure of the specific management approaches and performance indicators of the economic performance and the environmental and social aspects for financial products or services provided by the listed companies. The aforesaid financial products or services shall include at least the loans, project finance, mutual funds, insurance and the investment by the listed companies themselves. The performance indicators shall at least include the following items:
- Within the scope of the listed companies' financial products or services agreements or transactions, processes for encouraging and paying attention to their clients' or other counterparties' compliance with environmental and social requirements and how reasonable conditions are being followed.
- Number of employees in non-supervisory positions, annual employee benefit expenses and difference comparing to those of the preceding year.
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Article 5
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The corporate social responsibility reports prepared by the food industry and the listed companies prescribed under Subparagraph 2, Paragraph 1, Article 2 of the Rules shall obtain a CPA's letter of opinion issued according to the rules published by the Accounting Research and Development Foundation, ROC; the scope thereof shall include the performance indicators disclosed pursuant to Subparagraph 1, Paragraph 1, Article 4 of the Rules.
The listed company prescribed under Paragraph 1, Article 2 of the Rules shall disclose the corporate social responsibility report and the link to the file of that report posted on the company's website on the internet information reporting system designated by TWSE by June 30. However, if the listed company does not prepare a corporate social responsibility report in the most recent year or does not prepare the report by referring to the GRI Guidelines, or the corporate social responsibility report has obtained a CPA's letter of opinion according to the rules mentioned in the preceding paragraph, the filing may be completed by December 31.
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Article 6
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These Rules and any amendments hereto will be implemented after the approval for recordation of the Competent Authority.
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