About this report

This fifth edition of the Corporate Responsibility (CR) Report continues Merck’s tradition of corporate social responsibility reporting that began in 1993. Following three Environmental Reports (in 1993, 1995 and 1997) and one “Responsible Care” report (in 2000), every two years since 2003 we have published a report on our corporate responsibility for our products, our employees, the environment, and society. Our objective is to present our activities, successes and challenges transparently. This report also documents our progress in implementing the principles of the United Nations’ Global Compact ("Communication on Progress").

The reporting period covers the fiscal years (calendar years) 2009 and 2010 and relates to the entire Merck Group with its Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals business sectors. Consequently, it also includes the sites added in 2010 due to the acquisition of Millipore, an international supplier to the life science sector. Any exceptions, such as site-specific figures or division-specific activities, are indicated.

The environment, health and safety data are input at the local level via LION, the Location Information Online Database of the Merck Group, and approved after review by a second person. Since 2005, Merck has used this system to record the data of all production sites, relevant warehouses and research sites over which Merck has operational control. When evaluating the relevance of sites, we consider both potential risks resulting from the sites’ activities and the sites’ sizes (number of employees). So we record data from all production sites, for example, even if they have only a few employees. Since 2010, the newly added Millipore production sites have also been fully included in the data collection process. In 2009, we began including our commercial subsidiaries into the data collection process. This is expected to substantially improve the quality of the reported data related to accidents. We will continue this process in 2011. We are continuously working to optimize our data collection processes and quality controls and standardizing them worldwide, even at small sites. To this end, in 2011 we will continue at the Group level to revise the existing standards, operating procedures and guidelines on reporting. We will also support the sites in optimizing their data collection processes and the related quality controls. We are intensifying our checks of the processes and the reported data, for example within the scope of the internal EHS audits.
The data on employees and social commitment refer to the entire Merck Group and, as of 2010, include Millipore. The master data on employees are continually updated in an SAP database. Other employee data, such as on ILO core labor standards, and the data on social commitment are requested annually. We are striving to increase the quality of the data received by improving the instructions for entering and checking the data for plausibility.

KPMG AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft audited the Group financial statements and management report and granted an unqualified audit opinion. In addition, Merck has received a Limited Assurance audit certificate from KPMG AG for both financial and selected non-financial figures
(see Independent Assurance Report, p. 68).

This printed report cannot cover the entire range of information on the accomplishments and activities of the Merck Group. Further and more detailed information can be found on our website at www.merck.de/responsibility. We plan to publish the next Merck CR Report in 2013.