Sustainable Procurement Policy

1.1 Purpose. This policy states the sustainability requirements ERIANUX, LLC applies when selecting, contracting with and managing suppliers, and the standard a supplier accepts by doing business with the Company.

1.2 Framework. The policy is structured against ISO 20400:2017, Sustainable procurement — Guidance, which applies sustainability to the purchasing function as a sector-specific application of ISO 26000. ISO 20400 is a guidance standard and not a certification standard; the Company aligns to it and makes no claim of certification against it.

1.3 Scope. All Company procurement, divided into: physical goods for the Store (apparel, drinkware, desk mats and similar), produced by print-on-demand, wholesale and dropship partners; digital and platform services (hosting, CDN, source control, trading-platform dependencies); financial and professional services; and office consumables. The software business itself has no manufacturing supply chain — a licence key is written, not made — so the substantive sourcing decisions live in the first and last of those categories.

1.4 Application. Every supplier and any sub-supplier it relies on, to the extent the Company has visibility, is expected to operate consistently with this policy and with all applicable law. Acceptance of a Company purchase order constitutes acceptance of clause 3.

Diligence is proportionate to risk and spend, as ISO 20400 contemplates. Applying apparel-grade enquiry to a source-control subscription would be theatre; applying subscription-grade enquiry to cotton apparel would be negligence.

• 3.1 No forced or child labour. An absolute requirement, set out in full in the Modern Slavery & Human Rights Statement. A supplier that cannot meet it is not engaged, irrespective of price, quality or convenience.
• 3.2 Fair wages and lawful hours. Employees of a manufacturing partner should be paid fairly for the region in which they work, not merely at the legal floor. Hours should follow local law, and overtime should be genuinely voluntary rather than a substitute for hiring.
• 3.3 Safe workplaces. A partner’s own employees, and any security personnel it engages, must be treated lawfully and safely, with functioning fire exits, protective equipment appropriate to the process, and no punitive discipline.
• 3.4 Pay their own suppliers on time. A business that stretches payment terms to its own suppliers to fund its working capital is one the Company does not want to depend on, and the practice is a reliable early indicator that the conditions in clause 3.2 are deteriorating.
• 3.5 Genuine goods only. Nothing counterfeit, nothing pirated, and nothing that infringes a third party’s trade mark, design or copyright — the same standard the Company holds its own products to.
• 3.6 No bribery or kickbacks. Suppliers must not offer anything of value to obtain or retain Company business, and must not solicit it from the Company. See the Anti-Bribery & Corruption Policy.
• 3.7 Data and confidentiality. A supplier handling Company or customer data must process it only for the contracted purpose, protect it appropriately, and notify the Company promptly of any breach. Customer personal data is not disclosed to a fulfilment partner beyond what the shipment requires.
• 3.8 Lawful trade. Suppliers must comply with applicable sanctions, export-control and customs law, and must not transship, mislabel country of origin, or undervalue goods for duty purposes.

• 4.1 Established, accountable partners. The Company prefers print and manufacturing partners with published labour standards and a verifiable track record over the cheapest unverified option. Accountability is a selection criterion, not a bonus.
• 4.2 Diverse and inclusive supply relationships. Where a comparable option exists, the Company would rather build a relationship with it than default to the largest incumbent out of habit. This includes small, independent and minority- or veteran-owned suppliers where they can meet the specification.
• 4.3 No exploitation of vulnerable groups. No forced eviction, no land seizure, and no reliance on a labour pool that cannot leave — addressed in detail in the Modern Slavery & Human Rights Statement.
• 4.4 Accessible products and services. Where a supplier provides something a customer interacts with, the Company prefers one whose product can be used with assistive technology. See the Accessibility Statement.

• 5.1 Print-on-demand over speculative stock. Goods are produced against a real order rather than manufactured in bulk and warehoused against the chance of a sale. By construction that means less unsold inventory and less wasted material — a structural consequence of the model, not a claim layered on afterwards.
• 5.2 Durability over disposability. Heavier, longer-lasting cotton over a thin garment replaced twice as often; a durable desk mat over a disposable one. A product bought once and used for years beats a cheaper one replaced every season, and the Company specifies accordingly even where it costs more per unit.
• 5.3 Lower-impact materials where the option is real. Recycled, organic or lower-impact material is chosen where the alternative is genuinely equivalent in price and quality — not as an unverified checkbox and not where the substitution would fail clause 5.2.
• 5.4 Packaging and consolidation. Minimal packaging, no unnecessary inserts, and consolidated shipment of a multi-item order where the fulfilment partner supports it.
• 5.5 Digital suppliers. For hosting and delivery, the Company prefers providers that publish their energy and emissions position and operate efficient infrastructure. It does not restate a provider’s renewable-energy claim as though it were the Company’s own achievement. See the Climate Statement.
• 5.6 End of life. Where the Company retires equipment, it is reused, resold or recycled through a responsible route rather than discarded.

6.1 Specify. A specification states the function required, the durability expected and the sustainability requirements that apply, so that a supplier is not asked to compete on price against a requirement that was never written down.

6.2 Select. Candidate suppliers are assessed on capability, total cost of ownership over the life of the goods, and clauses 3 to 5. Lowest price does not win where it is achieved by a practice the Company prohibits. Screening at this stage covers entity identity, ownership, published labour standards, the UFLPA Entity List and applicable sanctions lists.

6.3 Contract. New and renewed agreements incorporate this policy, require compliance with applicable law, prohibit unapproved subcontracting of production, require disclosure of the country of manufacture on request, require notification of any enforcement action or labour allegation affecting the supply chain, and permit termination for breach.

6.4 Manage. Performance is reviewed against quality, defect and return rates, fulfilment reliability, and any concern raised by a customer or a third party. A supplier is told when it falls short and given an opportunity to correct.

6.5 Exit. Where a supplier will not or cannot meet this policy, the Company stops ordering. Because production is on demand and no volume commitment exists, exiting a partner costs the Company little — which is precisely what makes this policy enforceable rather than aspirational.

The Company is small. It does not claim a carbon-neutral supply chain, a certified sustainability rating, an audited environmental footprint, ISO 20400 certification, or tier-three traceability of raw materials. None of that has been independently verified, and an unverified claim is not one this Company publishes anywhere. The Climate Statement sets out what is structurally true instead.

8.1 Accountability. The Managing Member owns this policy and approves every physical-goods supplier. Any future employee or contractor given sourcing responsibility will be briefed on it, and on the risk assessment in the Modern Slavery & Human Rights Statement, before that responsibility transfers.

8.2 Records. Supplier screening results, agreements carrying the clause 6.3 terms, concerns received and their outcomes, and supplier changes made on sustainability grounds are retained for not less than five years.

8.3 Review. Annually, and on the addition of a product category, the addition or replacement of a physical-goods partner, any enforcement action naming a supplier, or any change in applicable supply-chain law. Each review is logged whether or not the text changes.

The following are grounds for refusal or immediate termination, without a balancing exercise against price, quality or lead time.

• 9.1 Any indication of forced, bonded, trafficked or child labour at the supplier or in a tier the supplier relies on.
• 9.2 Appearance of the supplier, its parent or its named principals on the UFLPA Entity List, a CBP withhold-release order or finding, or an applicable sanctions or debarment list.
• 9.3 Supply of counterfeit, pirated or trademark-infringing goods, or of a garment carrying a brand label the supplier is not authorised to apply.
• 9.4 Falsification of country of origin, undervaluation of goods for customs purposes, or transshipment to disguise origin.
• 9.5 Offering anything of value to obtain or retain Company business, or soliciting it.
• 9.6 Unapproved subcontracting of production to an undisclosed facility.
• 9.7 Products containing a substance restricted for the market of sale, or lacking a disclosure the market requires — including the restricted-substance regimes applicable to textiles, dyes, coatings and drinkware, and California Proposition 65 warning obligations.
• 9.8 Refusal to accept the contractual terms at clause 6.3, or refusal to answer the questions at Annex A.

The following do not by themselves disqualify a supplier, but each requires an explanation recorded before an order is placed: a unit price materially below the market for the specification; an inability or unwillingness to name the country of manufacture; a lead time inconsistent with the stated production method; a request for payment to a third party or to an account in an unrelated jurisdiction; a marketplace listing with no identifiable legal entity behind it; a supplier that will not put its labour standards in writing; a certificate supplied as an unverifiable image rather than a checkable reference; and a sudden change of factory, address or bank details mid-relationship.

The Company does not publish a sustainability score it has not earned. It records six process indicators, reviewed annually, each of which is either true or false rather than estimated:

“Supplier” — any party from which the Company obtains goods or services, including a marketplace through which goods are sourced. “Sub-supplier” — any party supplying a supplier, at any tier. “Print-on-demand” — production of a finished item only after a customer order exists. “Dropship” — shipment direct from a supplier to the customer without the goods passing through the Company. “Total cost of ownership” — the cost of a purchase across its whole life, including replacement frequency, returns and disposal, rather than its invoice price. “Life-cycle thinking” — assessment of impacts from raw material through production, use and end of life, as contemplated by ISO 20400. “Restricted substance” — a chemical whose presence or concentration is limited, or whose presence must be disclosed, in a market the Company sells into.

13.1 Managing Member. Approves this policy, approves every physical-goods supplier, holds the decision on exit, and signs off the annual review.

13.2 Any person with sourcing responsibility. Applies clauses 3 to 6 before placing a first order, records the questionnaire answers at Annex A, escalates any red flag at clause 10 before committing, and does not accept a supplier’s verbal assurance in place of a written one.

13.3 Suppliers. Comply with clause 3, answer the Annex A questions honestly, notify the Company of a change of facility, ownership or bank details, and notify any enforcement action or labour allegation affecting the chain.

13.4 Customers and the public. May raise a concern about any supplier at legal@erianux.com and will be told the outcome where it is the Company’s to disclose.

Asked of every physical-goods supplier before a first order, and again on any material change. An answer of “we do not know” is acceptable and is recorded as given; a refusal to answer is not.