HAVE ANTI-GRAFT SYSTEM FOR DEPTS
IRECENTLY spoke at the 11th Anti-Corruption Compliance China Summit 2018 in Beijing, China, on the ISO 37001 to more than 250 delegates from leading companies and anti-corruption enforcement agencies.
The ISO 37001: Anti-bribery Management System outlines the minimum standards required to achieve third-party compliance, including the elements of a company’s risk assessment process, anti-bribery policy and recommendations regarding the investigation and remediation of bribery.
This ISO 37001 standard has generated a lot of interest among industry actors and players.
As an international standard ISO 37001 helps companies and organisations to demonstrate that reasonable steps or adequate procedures have been put in place and appropriate action taken to prevent bribery and corruption.
These steps and procedures have a mitigating effect on jurisdictions.
In the age of transparency, no organisation can afford to take the risk of bribery lightly.
Investors, business associates, personnel and shareholders all need to be assured that you have made every possible effort to prevent bribery at all levels of the organisation.
To drive this message and “to stop the buck”, it always has to come from the top.
And it seems that our neighbouring country is taking the lead in fighting corruption.
Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi’ Widodo had issued a presidential instruction, INPRES No: 10/2016, on Sept 22, 2016, entitled “Aksi Pencegahan Dan Pemberantasan Korupsi Tahun 2016 dan Tahun 2017” (Preventive Action Against and Eradication of Corruption 2016 and 2017).
Indonesia is putting in place 31 action plans to eradicate corruption. One of the 31 action plans that is the most meaningful is Action Plan No: 20 — “Inisiasi Upaya Sertifikasi Korupsi” (AntiCorruption Certification Initiative).
Indonesia has recognised the significant impact of this ISO 37001 standard. And not has only the National Standardisation Agency of Indonesia (Badan Standardisasi Nasional) adopted the ISO 37001 as its national standard, it is also working with four core partners — the Ministry of National Development Planning Board, Ministry of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform, Corruption Eradication Commission and the Central Bureau of Statistics.
The ISO 37001 standard is a game-changer and is expected to be implemented by the public sector that will, in turn, require that external service providers and companies wanting to do business with the government departments and agencies be certified to the ISO 37001 standard too.
According to the Brazilian State Law No: 7.753/2017 of Rio de Janeiro, companies that are interested in doing business with the state government to implement and maintain compliance programmes, just short of mentioning the ISO 37001: 2016 AntiBribery Management System.
Bribery is a powerful disease, costing lives and eroding economies all over the world.
I would strongly urge the new Pakatan Harapan government to implement the ISO 37001:2016 Anti-Bribery Management System in government departments, agencies and government-linked companies.
That’s the way forward for the new government to be more open, transparent and accountable.