Auditing and Compliance

Apple requires our suppliers to adhere to our Supplier Code of Conduct. We insist they provide safe working conditions, treat employees fairly, and use environmentally responsible manufacturing processes. We drive compliance to the Code through an aggressive monitoring program that includes factory audits, corrective action plans, and verification measures.

Comprehensive audit

When Apple audits a supplier, our employees take the lead. Supporting them are in-region staff and third-party experts who know the language and understand local regulations and practices. Each of the auditors on the team is thoroughly trained to use a detailed protocol and to assess every item of our Code.

Apple audits include physical factory inspections, interviews with randomly selected employees, and reviews of hundreds of records. Our team grades the supplier’s level of compliance with each item of the Code. We also evaluate the strength of the underlying management systems and identify areas for improvement.

Corrective action

The audit concludes with a meeting with the facility managers. We explain the results in detail and require the most senior manager to acknowledge the findings in writing. If the audit reveals the need for improvement, the supplier must submit a corrective action plan that addresses not only the specific violation, but also the management system needed to prevent reoccurrence.

Apple requires that many findings — such as health and safety violations — be corrected immediately. In the case of violations that demand a more complex solution, our team tracks completion of each corrective action and performs a Corrective Action Verification audit to confirm that the supplier meets our requirements.

For more information about our audits, see the Supplier Responsibility 2009 Progress Report.

In addition, we require Apple suppliers using Tantalum or Tungsten, metals used in a small number of components, to declare that the metals are not sourced from illegal mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo.