UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

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Form SD

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Specialized Disclosure Report

 

Allot Communications Ltd.

 

 

Check the appropriate box to indicate the rule pursuant to which this form is being filed, and provide the period to which the information in this form applies:

 

 

 

SECTION 1 – CONFLICT MINERALS DISCLOSURE

 

Item 1.01 Conflict Minerals Disclosure and Report

 

Introduction

This Specialized Disclosure Form ("Form SD") of Allot Communications Ltd. (the "Company," "we," or "us") is filed pursuant to Rule 13p-1 (the "Rule") promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), for the reporting period from January 1 to December 31, 2016.

 

The Rule requires disclosure of certain information when a company manufactures or contracts to manufacture products for which the minerals specified in the Rule are necessary to the functionality or production of those products. The specified minerals are gold, columbite-tantalite (coltan), cassiterite and wolframite, including their derivatives, which are limited to tantalum, tin and tungsten (collectively, the "Conflict Minerals"), that originated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo ("DRC") and certain adjoining countries (collectively with the DRC, the "Covered Countries").

Conclusion Based on Reasonable Country of Origin Inquiry

In accordance with the Rule, the Company has concluded in good faith that during the year ended December 31, 2016:

On the basis of these conclusions, the Company proceeded to exercise due diligence with respect to the source and chain of custody of the Conflict Minerals contained in its Covered Products. The Conflict Minerals Report describing the Company's due diligence efforts is attached as Exhibit 1.01 to this Form SD for the reporting period from January 1 to December 31, 2016.  This Conflict Minerals Report has not been subject to an independent private sector audit.

Countries of origin identified as a result of the Company's reasonable country of origin inquiry include, to the extent known, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Province Of China, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United States Of America, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Conflict Minerals Disclosure

A copy of the Company's Conflict Minerals Report is filed as Exhibit 1.01 to this Form SD, and is publicly available on the Company's website at http://investors.allot.com/sec.cfm. Unless otherwise stated in this Form SD and the Conflict Minerals Report filed as Exhibit 1.01 hereto, any documents, third-party materials or references to websites (including the Company's) are not incorporated by reference in, or considered to be a part of, this Form SD and the attached Conflict Minerals Report.

Forward-Looking Statements

In addition to historical facts, this Form SD and the attached Conflict Minerals Report contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations and projections about future events. Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not historical facts and can be identified by terms such as "anticipates," "believes," "could," "seeks," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "may," "plans," "potential," "predicts," "projects," "should," "will," "would" or similar expressions that convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes and the negatives of those terms. All forward-looking statements in this Form SD and the attached Conflict Minerals Report reflect our current views about future events, are based on assumptions and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Many of these factors are beyond our ability to control or predict. Important factors that could cause actual outcomes to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement include those described in the Company's reports, including its annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016, and other forms filed by the Company with or furnished by the Company to the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should not put undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Unless we are required to do so under U.S. federal securities laws or other applicable laws, we do not intend to update or revise any forward-looking statements.

 

Item 1.02 Exhibit

 

As specified in Section 2, Item 2.01 of this Form SD, the Company is hereby filing its Conflict Minerals Report as Exhibit 1.01 to this Form SD.

SECTION 2 – EXHIBITS

The following exhibit is filed as part of this report.

 

SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the duly authorized undersigned.

 

EXHIBIT INDEX

 

 

6

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Allot Communications Ltd.

 

Conflict Minerals Report

For the reporting period from January 1 to December 31, 2016

 

INTRODUCTION

This Conflict Minerals Report (the "Report") of Allot Communications Ltd. ( "Allot," "Company," "we" or "us") has been prepared pursuant to Rule 13p-1 and Form SD (collectively, the "Rule") promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, for the reporting period between January 1 and December 31, 2016 (the "2016 calendar year"). The Rule requires disclosure of certain information when a company manufactures or contracts to manufacture products and the minerals specified in the Rule are necessary to the functionality or production of those products. The specified minerals are gold, columbite-tantalite (coltan), cassiterite and wolframite, including their derivatives, which are limited to tantalum, tin and tungsten (collectively, the "Conflict Minerals"), that originated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo ("DRC") and certain adjoining countries (collectively with the DRC, the "Covered Countries").

REASONABLE COUNTRY OF ORIGIN INQUIRY

 

Pursuant to the Rule, the Company conducted a good faith reasonable country of origin inquiry ("RCOI") regarding the Conflict Minerals.  This good faith RCOI was reasonably designed to determine whether any of the Conflict Minerals originated in the Covered Countries or whether any of the Conflict Minerals may be from recycled or scrap sources. Following this inquiry, the Company had reason to believe that during the calendar year 2016:

 

 

 

Therefore, the Company had performed due diligence on the source and chain of custody of the Conflict Minerals. There is significant overlap between the Company's RCOI efforts and its due diligence measures performed.  The due diligence measures performed by the Company are discussed below.

 

Allot is filing this Report with its Form SD as required under the Rule.  This Report has not been subject to an independent private sector audit.

 

PART I.  DESCRIPTION OF THE COMPANY'S PRODUCTS COVERED BY THIS REPORT 

Allot is a leading global provider of intelligent broadband solutions, focused on developing mobile, fixed and enterprise networks to support the "digital lifestyle." Allot's solutions, which are based on deep packet inspection technology, identify and leverage the business intelligence in data networks, empowering network operators to shape users' digital lifestyle experiences and to capitalize on the network traffic they generate.  As described in this Report, during the reporting period between January 1 and December 31, 2016, certain of the Company's operations manufactured, or contracted to manufacture, products for which the Conflict Minerals are necessary to the functionality or production of those products (collectively, the "Covered Products").

 

During the 2016 calendar year, the Covered Products included the following:

 

PART II.  THE COMPANY'S DUE DILIGENCE PROCESS

 

The Company's due diligence measures have been designed to conform to the five-step framework laid out by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development in its OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas: Third Edition (2016) including the related supplements on gold, tin, tantalum and tungsten (collectively, the "OECD Guidance").

OECD Guidance Step 1: Establish strong company management systems for conflict minerals supply chain due diligence and reporting compliance.

Adopt and commit to a supply chain policy for minerals originating from conflict-affected and high-risk areas.

The Company has adopted a policy relating to the Conflict Minerals (the "Policy"), which incorporates the standards set forth in the OECD Guidance. Specifically, the Policy states that the Company supports the actions of governments and organizations to increase supply chain transparency and enable companies to source conflict-free minerals. Further, the Company has initiated a comprehensive process to meet its regulatory obligations related to the sourcing of Conflict Minerals, taking steps to expand its supply chain due diligence measures and internal controls for the Conflict Minerals.

The Policy is available on the Company's website at http://www.allot.com/company/get-to-know-allot/quality-management/.

Structure internal management systems to support supply chain due diligence.

The Company's compliance with the Policy and the Rule is overseen by the head of the Company's engineering department. A team of subject matter experts from relevant departments within the Company, including the engineering, quality assurance and legal departments, is collectively responsible for implementing the Company's conflict minerals strategy and compliance processes and for training employees outside of the team on their roles and responsibilities in connection with the compliance program. Additionally, this team meets regularly to assess the progress of the Company's compliance program and reports to management from time to time. The team reported progress and results of its due diligence efforts to management at review sessions held at various times throughout the 2016 calendar year.

Establish a system of controls and transparency over the Conflict Mineral supply chain.

The Company has established a system of controls to promote transparency over its conflict minerals supply chain by utilizing the Conflict Minerals Reporting Template (as further described below), which is designed to facilitate the transfer of information through the supply chain regarding each mineral's country of origin and the smelters and refiners being utilized for the mineral. 

To educate its senior management regarding sourcing practices, the Company has participated in various focus groups and forums relating to responsible sourcing of Conflict Minerals, including several presentations given by the Institute of Printed Circuits, ILTAM – The Israeli Users' Association of Advanced Technologies in Hi-Tech Integrated Systems.

Consistent with the Company's commitment to sourcing products from suppliers that share its values with regard to human rights, ethics and social and environmental responsibility, as outlined in the Policy, and in compliance with the Rule, the Company has undertaken a multi-stage diligence inquiry to verify the possible sources of the Conflict Minerals contained in the products manufactured or contracted to be manufactured by the Company. The team overseeing the Company's conflict minerals strategy and compliance program has led this inquiry, with each focus group listed below tasked with specific responsibilities relating to the due diligence efforts:

 

Strengthen the Company's engagement with suppliers.

The Company informs its in-scope manufacturers and suppliers of its materials disclosure requirements, including its compliance with the OECD Guidance and the Rule, and of specification updates that the Company communicates and tracks electronically. Moreover, the Company has revised the terms of its purchase order and contract terms and conditions to ensure that manufacturers and suppliers are expressly required to procure the Conflict Minerals from sources that have been verified as conflict-free and to support the supply chain due diligence process employed by the Company.

Establish a company-level grievance mechanism.

The Company maintains an open reporting system through which employees and third parties may report concerns about potential or actual violations of the Policy. Concerns may be reported anonymously or for attribution through several channels, including through an employee's immediate manager or the Company's legal department. 

OECD Guidance Step 2: Identify and assess risks in the Company's supply chain.

Identify risks in the supply chain.

The Company does not purchase Conflict Minerals directly from mines, smelters or refiners. The Company's supply chain with respect to the Covered Products is complex, with multiple intermediaries and third parties in the supply chain between the Company's manufacture of the Covered Products and the original sources of Conflict Minerals. As a result, the Company designed its due diligence to conform to the requirements of the Rule and the OECD Guidance, as applicable for downstream companies. The Company relied and continues to rely on its suppliers to provide information regarding the origin of Conflict Minerals included in the Covered Products. Because the Company believes that the smelters and refiners of the Conflict Minerals are best situated to identify the sources of Conflict Minerals, the Company relied on its linkages to suppliers to identify the applicable smelters and refiners of Conflict Minerals in the Company's supply chain.

 

The first step in the Company's due diligence process was to determine which products manufactured or contracted to be manufactured by the Company during the 2016 calendar year may fall within the scope of the Rule and which first-tier suppliers and manufacturers the Company ought to engage in its due diligence efforts.

Once the final first-tier manufacturer and supplier list was confirmed, all manufacturers and suppliers identified in connection with the Covered Products were then contacted by GreenSoft Technology, Inc. and provided with a supply chain survey in the form of the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition's  Conflict Minerals Reporting Template (the "EICC Conflict Minerals Reporting Template"). The Company modeled its survey after version 4.01b of the EEIC Conflict Minerals Reporting Template. In its cover letter enclosing the template, GreenSoft Technology, Inc. (i) reiterated the requirements of the Rule and its applicability to the Company, (ii) expressed the company's goal to become a "conflict free" company and its expectation that its suppliers take similar measures with their suppliers, and (iii) requested that each recipient manufacturer or supplier complete the survey for all products supplied to the Company during the 2016 calendar year.

As set forth in the EICC Conflict Minerals Reporting Template and the OECD Guidance, manufacturers and suppliers which completed the survey, made representations or provided information regarding the following:

Assess risk in the supply chain.

The information in the surveys received from manufacturers and suppliers was compared against the CFSI's Conflict-Free Smelter list. The Company adopted the following multi-step process to evaluate the surveys:

All completed surveys received from suppliers were stored electronically in a central location accessible to authorized employees of the Company involved in the due diligence process and will be retained in accordance with the Company's document retention guidelines.

Following the process outlined above, as of December 31, 2016, the Company received completed survey responses from approximately 63% of manufacturers and suppliers on the list responsible for manufactured parts used in the Covered Products included in the supply chain survey. The Company relied on the completed surveys it received from its manufacturers and suppliers as the main source of documentation supporting the representations made by such parties regarding the source and chain of custody of relevant Conflict Minerals.

 

 OECD Guidance Step 3: Design and implement a strategy to respond to identified risks.

Report findings to designated senior management.

The team overseeing the Company's conflict minerals strategy and compliance program reported its due diligence findings to senior management overseeing the supply chain and engineering departments, including the Corporate Quality Assistant Vice President and the Vice President for Operations. All completed surveys from manufacturers and suppliers were stored electronically in a central location accessible to authorized employees in the Company's engineering and legal departments. The Company's quality assurance department was involved in the design and was responsible for the internal audit of the due diligence process.

Devise, adopt and implement a risk management plan.

In light of the complexity of the Company's and its suppliers' supply chains, the Company is currently unable to assess adequately all of the risks in its supply chain. However, the Company has taken and continues to take steps to manage risks, including:

Monitor risk mitigation efforts and report back to designated senior management.

 

To monitor and track performance of risk management efforts, the Company relies on supplier survey updates and supplier CFSP updates. The status was communicated in meetings of the internal team charged with executing the Company's Conflict Minerals strategy and compliance processes.

The Company employs an escalation process whereby it promptly engages directly with suppliers or manufacturers upon obtaining any information that may indicate that such suppliers or manufacturers may be sourcing Conflict Minerals from any of the Covered Countries. Various steps taken by the Company in such instances may include requiring a contracted supplier or manufacturer to find an alternative source for the Covered Minerals for use in products or components supplied to the Company, or, if appropriate in light of all relevant factors, suspending or terminating contractual relationship with the supplier or manufacturer. The Company's risk management plan is  ultimately to discontinue doing business with any supplier found to be purchasing the Conflict Minerals, the trading of which directly or indirectly finance or benefit armed groups in the Covered Countries, after attempts at corrective actions are not successful.

Undertake additional fact and risk assessments for risks requiring mitigation, or after a change in circumstances.

To undertake additional fact and risk assessments for risks requiring mitigation or after a change of circumstances, the Company relies on the supplier re-approval process as governed by its Policy.

 

OECD Guidance Step 4: Carry out independent third-party audit of smelter/refiner due diligence practices.

 

Due to the Company's position in the supply chain, the Company does not have a direct relationship with smelters and refiners, nor does it perform direct audits of the smelters and refiners that provide its supply chain with the Conflict Minerals contained in the Company's Covered Products. The Company relies upon industry efforts to influence smelters and refiners to undergo audits and become certified through the CFSP.

OECD Guidance Step 5: Report annually on supply chain due diligence.

The Company has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission its specialized disclosure report on Form SD, which includes this Conflict Minerals Report as Exhibit 1.01, for the reporting period from January 1 to December 31, 2016. In accordance with OECD Guidance and the Rule, the Company has also made these disclosures available on its website at http://investors.allot.com/sec.cfm.

PART III.  THE COMPANY'S DUE DILIGENCE FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS

 

Country of Origin of the Conflict Minerals in the Covered Products

 

Based on the information obtained by the Company during the due diligence process, the Company does not have sufficient information, with respect to the Covered Products, to determine the country of origin of all of the Conflict Minerals in all the Covered Products. However, based on the information that has been obtained, to the extent reasonably determinable by the Company, with respect to the smelters and refineries identified by the Company, such countries of origin are believed to include, to the extent known, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Province Of China, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United States Of America, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Facilities Used to Process the Conflict Minerals in the Covered Products

Following the process outlined above, the Company received responses from approximately 63% of the surveyed suppliers. Therefore, the Company was unable to conclusively determine the origin of all the Conflict Minerals contained in the Covered Products.

 

However, based on the information that was provided by the Company's suppliers and otherwise obtained through the due diligence process, the Company believes that, to the extent reasonably determinable by the Company, the facilities that were used to process the Conflict Minerals contained in the Covered Products during the covered period included the smelters and refineries listed on Appendix A to this Report. The smelters and refiners that the Company has been able to determine as CFSP compliant are identified by an asterisk in Appendix A (Smelters which are in Active CSFP status are identified by two asterisks).  The smelters and refiners identified in Appendix A to this Report were identified by our suppliers and the Company cannot be certain that these smelters and refiners were in fact in the Company's supply chain during the period covered by this Report.

 

PART IV. IMPLEMENTATION OF STRATEGIES TO RESPOND TO IDENTIFIED RISKS AND FUTURE STEPS

 

We have taken, and intend to continue to take, steps to improve our due diligence processes and to minimize the risk that our necessary conflict minerals benefit armed groups. Going forward, the Company plans to continue to engage with its manufacturers and suppliers to obtain current, accurate and complete information about its supply chains and will continue to improve its due diligence efforts to ensure responsible sourcing in compliance with the Policy. The Company also intends to continue its engagement with industry programs and groups to encourage the further adoption, improvement and reliability of relevant programs, tools and standards. The Company intends to monitor the performance and efficiency of its due diligence efforts and to establish procedures designed to account for any new risks in the risk management plan.  The Company also plans to continue to encourage its suppliers to use conflict-free smelters and refiners as capacity becomes available.

 

 

 

* CFSP-compliant, based on CFSI

** CFSP-Active List