TIPC has been using the Government Procurement Act as the basis for handling all purchases to achieve fairness, openness and equity, and the results have been good so far. The relevant bidding documents all state that the new suppliers should comply with the fair trade principle, environmental protection law, Labor Standards Act and Occupational Safety and Health Act. We hope that this will require new suppliers to jointly implement corporate social responsibility and sustainable development.
Both new suppliers and existing suppliers must comply with the Procurement Act. TIPC conducts regular audits on suppliers, regardless of whether they are new or existing. In the case of substandard manufacturers, the contract will be terminated, cancelled, and suspended in accordance with the provisions of the contract. The selection of suppliers for TIPC is based on the Government Procurement Act. If there is any violation of Article 101 of the Procurement Act, the vendor will be notified in accordance with the regulations and will follow the procedures to file a dissenting opinion, which will be published in the Government Procurement Bulletin as appropriate and will not be allowed to participate in bidding or be the final bidder or subcontractor for a period of time. No instances of vendors violating the Procurement Act and subsequently having their contracts terminated occurred in 2023.
Suppliers' ESG Status
TIPC is looking forward to working together with our suppliers to fulfill our corporate's social responsibilities. We conducted the "Supplier ESG Self-Assessment Questionnaire" to evaluate the ESG status of suppliers whose procurement reaches NT$5 million or more. The questionnaire covers five major aspects, namely environmental protection, labor practices, labor rights, business ethics, and product responsibility.
In 2023, a total of 202 questionnaires were distributed and 74 questionnaires were retrieved, all of which received satisfactory scores. Among the suppliers surveyed, 58 of them received an A grade, accounting for about 79% of the total.
Supplier Information Disclosure Rating
Project Environmental Audit
Prior to the commencement of any construction work in the units covered by TIPC, the corporate always follows the principle of project planning and review to determine the need for environmental impact assessment, assesses the surrounding environment, and to gain an in-depth understanding of local communities in order to formulate a neighbor-friendly policy. In accordance with the relevant regulations, coordination meetings, pre-construction briefing plus occupational safety and health interviews were held prior to the construction, as well as various works-related education and on-site management. We voluntarily carry out weekly watering and sweeping of roads around the construction sites, and dredge the surrounding ditches from time to time to maintain the cleanliness of the neighboring communities. For ongoing projects, TIPC regularly conducts joint inspections with local environmental protection administrations and Maritime Affairs Center, Maritime Port Bureau, MOTC, and invites operators to attend promotional meetings. Besides, Ministry of Environment and Environmental Protection Department (EPD) have also sent their teams to conduct in-port inspections. There was no penalty for non-compliance in the year of 2023.
