Contributing to poverty, undermining human rights, increasing costs and reducing the quality of products and services, bribery is high on the political agenda for many countries, and while many governments have done much to combat it, organizations must also proactively play their part.
ISO is developing a standard to help organizations do just that; it has now reached the crucial public enquiry and voting stage (DIS), where ISO members involved in its development vote on the current draft before moving closer to publication.
ISO 37001, Anti-bribery management systems, is designed to help organizations fight bribery by establishing a culture of integrity, transparency and compliance. While the standard cannot guarantee that no bribery has or will occur, it can help organizations implement effective measures to prevent and address it.
Neill Stansbury, Chair of the ISO project committee developing the standard, under the stewardship of BSI, ISO’s member for the UK, said the benefits of implementing the standard are many.
“ISO 37001 will help provide assurance to management, investors, business associates, personnel, and other stakeholders that an organization is taking reasonable steps to prevent bribery.”
Anyone interested in commenting on the draft can do so through their national ISO member.
For further information on ISO 37001, see our page on anti-bribery.
ISO 37001 is due to be published late in 2016.