Hasbro commits to high principles as it publishes first CSR report

Toy and game maker Hasbro has emphasised its commitment to “being a highly principled, trustworthy and transparent company” with the release of its first ever CSR report.

Hasbro has pledged to begin eliminating PVC from all its core toy and game packaging from 2013 as part of its commitment to “strong CSR principles”. It also published details of core third party vendors and factories in a bid to help make its supply chain more transparent.

Hasbro president and CEO Brian Goldner wrote: “Fulfilling our commitment to protect the environment, make safe products and produce ethical content is our corporate responsibility, and starts with me and includes our 6,000 employees around the world.”

Hasbro owns two factories – in the US and Ireland – but the bulk of its production is concentrated on 46 factories in China.

Hasbro’s CSR website includes an audit overview of its toy and game sites’ performance, as well as a link to a list of 26 core suppliers, all in China, which accounted for just under 80% of Hasbro’s Far East production in 2010.

Since the report’s publication, the Institute for Global Labour & Human Rights, a US NGO, accused Hasbro of producing its Transformers under “miserable, sweatshop conditions” at the Jet Fair toy factory, claims the company said were thoroughly investigated and shown to be unfounded.