In many cases, gaining greater visibility of all stages of our raw-material supply chains can be difficult. This is especially true for the commodities we use in some of our products. In these instances, we can take the initiative to design and set up our own supply chain in order to ensure full traceability and control, as in the case of our beeswax supply chain in France. Where appropriate, we also use materials which are certified to a recognized sustainability standard. For example, we have achieved COC Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) certification, and we use certified palm oil derivatives. Where supply chains are highly complex and lacking in traceability, and where recognized sustainability standards do not exist, we try to work in association across sectors, with private, public, and nonprofit parties that are trying to achieve responsible supply chains. This is the case with mica, for example, through the Responsible Mica Initiative (RMI). The objectives of such initiatives focus on increasing traceability, and ensuring fair and sustainable conditions for production or mining. This helps communities and governments build a legal framework and achieve acceptable standards. PALM OIL: USING A RECOGNIZED SUSTAINABILITY STANDARD CHANEL is a relatively small user of palm oil, yet, like most beauty-product producers, we do use derivatives of it in our cosmetics. We use around 130 derivatives of palm oil and palm kernel oil as raw materials, from 50 suppliers — the total amount being about 300 tons a year. All the derivatives we use are certified to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) standard. There are many environmental issues linked to palm oil production, including deforestation, loss of wildlife habitat, and even climate change. So, despite the relatively low volume we use, we know we need to work on tracing the supply, and ensuring none of our buying contributes to these issues. To understand this better, CHANEL commissioned a third party to conduct a traceability study of our supply chain for palm oil derivatives. This helped us trace 81 percent of our products to the refineries, 75 percent to the mills, and 16 percent to as far as the plantations. We have identified 58 refineries, 23 crushers, and 1,180 mills potentially connected to our supply chain that have risks related to deforestation and wildlife issues. We will now move on to the second step of our traceability program by connecting these results with our sustainable-sourcing approach. We will talk to a selection of our palm oil derivative suppliers about planning and running resiliency projects along our value chain. In addition, since 2015 we have been trying to develop, with a local NGO, our own source of palm oil in Ghana to supplement our needs. Here we will have full traceability and better control over the social and environmental impacts. NATURAL RAW MATERIALS OF EXTRAORDINARY QUALITY