For the purpose of the Standard bribery is defined as the offering,
promising, giving, accepting or soliciting of an undue advantage of any value
(which could be financial or non-financial), directly or indirectly, and
irrespective of location(s), in violation of applicable law, as an inducement
or reward for a person acting or refraining from acting in relation to the
performance of that person’s duties.
This definition is broadly in line with the definition of bribery used
in international instruments and is further informed by a reference to the law
specifically applicable to the organization; it includes the bribery of
officials in both the public and the private sectors.
The Standard further includes bribery by the organization (active
bribery) or of the organization (passive bribery). It extends to bribery by its
personnel or business associates acting on the organization’s behalf or for its
benefit as well as to bribery of its personnel or of its business associates in
relation to the organization’s activities.
The Standard specifically does not address fraud, cartels,
anti-trust/competition offences, money-laundering or other activities related
to corrupt practices (such as those covered by the United Nations Convention
Against Corruption) although an organization may choose to extend the scope of
its management systems to such activities.
The standard addresses the following bribery types:
- Bribery in public, private, and nonprofit sectors;
- Bribery by the organization, or by its personnel or business
associates acting on the organization’s behalf or for its benefit;
- Bribery of the organization, or of its personnel or business
associates; and direct and indirect bribery, i.e., bribery through or by a
third party.
Certification to ISO 37001 may likely become essential for organizations
operating or seeking to operate internationally. Like other ISO standards, ISO
37001 is auditable, which means that an external certification body can certify
an organization’s compliance with the standard. While certification will not
prevent all instances of bribery, certification or compliance with ISO 37001
will put into place measures that can substantially reduce the risk of bribery
and can address bribery if it occurs. In addition, certification can help an
organization attract and retain global business by demonstrating that the
organization has “put in place internationally recognized good-practice
anti-bribery controls."
ISO 37001’s introduction of an internationally recognized approach for
the prevention and detection of bribery provides organizations with a clear and
uniform set of measures for establishing, implementing, and improving their
anti-bribery and corruption programs. Although it is still uncertain how
regulatory authorities will treat ISO 37001, the standard it provides can
benefit organization by providing:
- Minimum requirements and supporting guidance for implementing or
benchmarking an anti-bribery management system;
- Assurance to management, investors, employees, customers, and other
stakeholders that an organization is taking reasonable steps to prevent
bribery;
- Evidence in the event of an investigation that an organization has
taken reasonable steps to prevent bribery.
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