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

We are a business primarily in the production, distribution, marketing and sale of cement, ready-mix concrete, aggregates, clinker and other construction materials 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 subsidiary of CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (“CEMEX”), which has its head office in Monterrey, Mexico and is a publicly listed company.  CEMEX UK Operations Limited is the 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, S.A.B. de C.V. (collectively the “CEMEX Group”) maintain and comply with CEMEX’s Code of Ethics “Our Code”, in which we set out our firm commitment never 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 program, a worldwide CEMEX initiative which embodies our ethics and compliance culture. ETHOS features on the CEMEX intranet and provides information and assistance which enables employees to integrate ethics and compliance into their daily work. Amongst others, employees can call or email 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 company’s ethics and standards. Our ETHOS 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’s overall program.

• 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

• The CEMEX Group is also a signatory member of the United Nations Global Compact, 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. Please see our latest Communication on Progress of the United Nations Global Compact.

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

• As of 2017 we follow the GR1 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.  For more information please access our latest Integrated Report and in GRI Content Index here.

• 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 and our Global Policy for Third Parties.

• To ensure all those 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 any 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 CEMEX. The Legal Compliance Department will assist in conducting a thorough due diligence review and in documenting the relationship with any 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 HR Department has measures in place to monitor the terms upon which employees are engaged and remunerated.

In general, during 2020, we made significant progress in identifying and implementing preventive measures to avoid any negative human rights impacts in our operations. 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. 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. 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.

We also have a Sustainability Committee, whose members are elected by CEMEX’s shareholders, and that among other activities has respect for all human rights among is most relevant topics of discussion.

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 2020, approximately 25,000 CEMEX employees and 1,400 outside participants received training related to business ethics, human rights, and legal compliance, dedicating more than 37,000 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 2020 and is given by CEMEX UK Operations Limited on behalf of itself and its associated UK group companies.
 

VISHAL PURI

DIRECTOR
CEMEX UK

25 May 2021