In the 2017 statement, we present the policies and standards that contribute to our control framework to respect human rights and help protect against modern slavery. We outline our due diligence processes, including our "Know your supplier" procedure, which helps identify the potential legal, ethical and reputational risks of engaging or renewing a supplier. We provide examples of how we assess and mitigate modern slavery risks, how we track our performance, how we collaborate with stakeholders and how we raise awareness and build capacity around these issues.
To ensure a robust and coordinated approach, we drafted our 2017 statement with specialist internal human rights support as well as input from the wide range of functions that help to protect against modern slavery, including Corporate Relations, Procurement, Legal, Human Resources, Marine, Group Security and Ethics & Integrity. We also obtained third party feedback, including from a leading civil society organisation. Our statement has been approved by the Rio Tinto board of directors and signed by our chief executive.
We recognise that tackling modern slavery requires a continuing year-on-year commitment. In 2018 we will continue to collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to address our own modern slavery risks, as well as encourage progress in international and domestic policy forums.
We will carry on strengthening our ability to know about, and act on, modern slavery risks. And as part of our commitment to transparency, we also look forward to showing our stakeholders how we are performing and what we are achieving.
For information on our broader human rights approach, read our 2017 Sustainable development report.