Along with the establishment of organization-wide environmental management, each of Honda's facilities is introducing environmental management systems to continuously improve their ability to protect the environment and to more thoroughly mitigate the environmental impact of substances of concern. Honda has been proactive in acquiring environmental management ISO 14001 certification for its production and other facilities. In Japan, all of Honda's production facilities had acquired certification by FY1998. Further, as a part of the Green Office initiative, the Honda Motor headquarters building in Aoyama acquired ISO 14001 certification in 1999, followed by six other regional offices in 2001, and the new Wako Building in 2005.

We are also working toward certification of all major facilities in North America, South America, Europe/Middle East/Africa, Asia/Oceania and China. In Europe, we are working to promote acquisition of the EU's Eco Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS).

Honda's ISO 14001-certified facilities (shown on the adjacent map) total 56 sites as of the end of FY2007. There are currently five EMAS-certified facilities in Europe. As shown in the adjacent table, six additional facilities acquired ISO 14001 certification in FY2007. We will continue working to acquire and retain ISO 14001 and EMAS certification throughout the Honda Group. In pursuing these initiatives, we will continue to apply the PDCA cycle, striving to reduce the environmental impact of our operations.

Environmental Audits

Environmental Audit System

Environmental conservation initiatives at facilities in Japan are implemented in accordance with an environmental management program based on annual targets and the Mid-term Environmental Plan, determined by the Environmental Administrators Committee. To verify that the environmental management systems are appropriately implemented and are continuously being improved, internal environmental audits and renewal/surveillance inspections by external certification organizations are conducted at our factories and offices. The internal environmental audits conducted in FY2007 led to 77 recommendations and advisories, and 195 findings. The external surveillance inspections conducted in FY2007 led to 21 minor recommendations and 122 findings. We responded promptly with corrective action.

Further, engineers and auditors are dispatched by the Environmental Administrators Committee to visit other facilities to confirm their compliance and the level of progress made in achieving their targets for environmental conservation.^* The Inter-Facility Environmental Audit is conducted by engineers and auditors from other factories in accordance with instructions provided by the Environmental Administrators Committee. In FY2007, these audits were conducted from June through September 2006.

* In these peer audits, one factory audits another. Similar peer audits are exchanged by non-production facilities and divisions within non-production facilities.