Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement Pursuant to the Modern Slavery Act 2015

We are a business engaged primarily in the production, distribution, marketing and sale of cement, ready-mix concrete, aggregates, clinker and other construction materials and urbanization solutions throughout the world.

We also provide related services and reliable construction-related services to customers and communities and maintain business relationships in more than 50 countries throughout the world. CEMEX UK Operations Limited is a wholly-owned indirect subsidiary of CEMEX España, S.A., which in turn is indirectly 99.86% owned by CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (“CEMEX”), which has its head office in Monterrey, Mexico and is a publicly listed company in Mexico and in the U.S.A. 

CEMEX UK Operations Limited is the CEMEX group’s main operating company within the UK.  Further information about CEMEX’s global operations can be found at www.cemex.com.

As part of our initiative to identify and mitigate risk within our business and our supply chains:

• We, along with all other subsidiaries of our ultimate parent CEMEX (collectively, the “CEMEX Group”) maintain the, and comply with, CEMEX’s Code of Ethics and Business Conduct (“Our Code”), in which we set out our firm commitment to never use or condone to use child or forced labour and safeguard fundamental human rights. See Our Code. Violation of Our Code is a disciplinary offence.

• All CEMEX Group employees are part of our ETHOS Global Program, a worldwide CEMEX initiative which embodies our ethics and compliance culture. ETHOS features on the CEMEX intranet and provides information and assistance intended to enable employees to integrate ethics and compliance into their daily work. Amongst others, employees can call, email or access the website for the “ETHOSLine”, which is a safe and confidential channel to ask questions and report violations related to ethics, compliance, and governance topics. All employees are required to undertake training to ensure that they understand the CEMEX Group’s ethics and standards. Our ETHOS Global Program has rooted local presence in the U.K., as employees from CEMEX´s operations in the U.K. have active roles in our ETHOS’ overall program, which includes having a local ETHOS committee in the U.K. made up of employees from different departments (i.e., legal, human resources, etc.).

• We embrace the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, also referred to as the “Ruggie Framework”. In April 2018, the CEMEX Group released its updated corporate Human Rights Policy where we express our commitment to comply with applicable laws, regulations, declarations and international treaties safeguarding human rights.  See our Policy Statement.

• Since 2004, the CEMEX Group has been a signatory member of the United Nations Global Compact (“UNGC”), a strategic policy initiative for businesses that are committed to aligning their operations and strategies with 10 universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. Additionally, in 2018 the CEMEX Group became a participant of the UNGC. For more information please consult our latest Integrated Report.

• We abide by a global Conflict Minerals Policy which sets out certain guidelines, criteria and compliance process for the identification of Conflict Minerals. See our Conflict Minerals Policy.

• As of 2017, we follow the GRI Standards of the Global Reporting Initiative (“GRI”) to prepare our Integrated Report.  Through the GRI Reporting Framework, we are obliged to disclose any use of child labour and forced or compulsory labour.  Additionally, in 2019 we started reporting in alignment with the Sustainability Accounting Standard Board´s (SASB) industry-specific requirements for the Construction Material Standard. For more information please access our latest Integrated Report, which includes our GRI Content Index and our SASB Index.

• The CEMEX Group has developed a Global Policy for Third Parties as well as a Code of Conduct for suppliers to adhere to our values, based on the UN Global Compact principles and we expect our suppliers to comply with this. See our Code of Conduct when Doing Business with Us and our Global Policy for Third Parties.

• To ensure third parties in our supply chain and contractors comply with our values, we have a due diligence process in place for onboarding and contractual relationships with third parties. The onboarding process must follow established guidelines and relevant documentation must be provided and approved before we can enter into a business relationship. Before dealing with a third party, we must ensure that it is reputable and that it certifies through our Compliance Declaration that it complies will all applicable laws and with either (i) the provisions of Our Code and other compliance policies or (ii) with the third party´s own internal policies and guidelines with regards to their commercial relationship with the CEMEX Group. The Legal Compliance Department will assist in conducting a thorough due diligence review and in documenting the relationship with a prospective third party. This should be done according to applicable policies. If suppliers are not able to provide us with adequate assurance as to their compliance with our policies on, amongst other topics slavery and human trafficking, then we will cease trading with them unless they take verifiable steps towards compliance.   

• Our Human Resources Department has measures in place to monitor the terms upon which employees are engaged and remunerated.

In general, during 2021, we made significant progress in identifying and implementing preventive measures to avoid any negative human rights impacts in our operations. The CEMEX Human Rights Compliance Assessment enabled us to discuss and define action plans by country, including the U.K., in order to proactively anticipate any potential human rights impacts. Through our operations’ identification of their top five human rights impacts, we are developing a culture of awareness and accountability with the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Nonetheless, we continue to work very closely with our operations to build their capabilities and maintain a robust mitigation and remediation model that enables us to prioritize and address human rights issues, while working to maximize our positive impacts.

To ensure a high level of understanding of the risks of modern slavery and human trafficking in our supply chains and our business, we provide relevant training and support to ensure compliance in this area. All senior management have been briefed on the subject. During 2021, 17,568 CEMEX employees received training related to business ethics and compliance, including human rights and employee relations, dedicating more than 22,700 total hours for this purpose.

This statement is made pursuant to section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes our slavery and human trafficking statement for the financial year ending 31 December 2021 and is given by CEMEX UK Operations Limited on behalf of itself and its associated UK group companies.

VISHAL PURI

DIRECTOR
CEMEX UK OPERATIONS LIMITED

6 June 2022