Always Do It Right Program
JBS works to ensure an ethical and honest environment in all its processes. To that end, it operates in all markets under the guidelines from the Global Compliance Division, the guardian of the processes, policies, channels and programs that encourage ethics and good conduct in the Company’s transactions and relations.
Since 2017, the Global Compliance Department has implemented and has been enhancing the Compliance Program “Always Do It Right ”.
Operating independently, the Global Compliance Division reports directly to the Board of Directors, and within the Governance of JBS it has created six Business Ethics Committee and an Institutional Ethics Committee consisting of the CEO Brazil, and CEO of the operations in Latin America, Oceania and plant-based, as well as other executives and Senior Legal Counsel.
To ensure the program’s development and efficacy, teams headquartered in Brazil and the United States operate based on the program’s 8 pillars, with the support of local HR, Legal and Internal Audit structures.
Ethics Committees
The progress of the “Always Do It Right” Program is supported and promoted by JBS six Business Ethics Committees and an Institutional Ethics Committee that ordinarily convene on a quarterly basis, consisting of members of the Company’s senior management.
Always Do It Right
The “Always Do It Right” Compliance Program of JBS was implemented in 2017 to ensure that an environment of ethics and integrity prevailed everywhere the company operates, abiding by the guidelines of our Code of Conduct and Ethics, the Business Associate Code of Conduct, global and local internal policies and procedures and prevailing legislation.
Pillars Of The JBS Compliance Program
Implementation of the program began in 2017 with a review of the scope of the JBS Ethics Line within the operations in South America and Italy, and the JBS EthicsPoint for the remaining operations around the world, available to all stakeholders (team members, suppliers, investors, and clients, among others) free of charge 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and in 17 languages.
In 2018, the Global Code of Conduct and Ethics was launched, valid in every country where JBS operates, containing clear guidelines about the ethics, fairness, honesty and transparency of our business regarding our team members, clients, suppliers and competitors.
At the same time, the Business Associate Code of Conduct was also launched to ensure that our business partners have the same commitment as we do in carrying out their business.
The Communication and Training pillar has been substantially consolidated since the Program was created. Every year, to educate and make our team members and the organization’s value chain aware of the topics of Compliance, a Training Cycle is undertaken defined by the organization based on risks identified, in clear and objective language, with the content specially produced for our different stakeholders and businesses.
Moreover, so that every activity of the Compliance Program remains alive and becomes a day-to-day habit of the businesses, an effective communication plan is essential for establishing the tone at the top of the senior management about the program.
In clear language and widely disseminated, issues like the Code of Conduct and Ethics, internal policies and procedures, the opinions of the leadership and the initiatives of the Compliance Program are circulated monthly in the Compliance News, available in 4 languages, Portuguese, English, Spanish and Italian, to all team members via e-mail and notice boards at the units.
To sustainably ensure the “Always Do It Right”, Program, Internal Controls were set up to mitigate risks, such as effective monitoring of donations of products, sponsorships, receiving and/or offering gifts and entertainment, among others.
Lastly, the Third-Party Due Diligence process uses an automated tool specifically developed for assessing the reputational risks of third parties within the sector with whom we engage in business relationships.
Commitments
JBS in Brazil assumes ethical commitments to its shareholders, stakeholders and society. These include the Business Pact for Integrity and Against Corruption, which the company signed on April 25, 2018. The Commitment deals with:
Informing team members and stakeholders about the Brazilian Anticorruption Law;
Disseminating and providing guidance on the legal principles applicable to its activities;
Working with the production chain to develop practices of integrity and compliance with the law;
Prohibiting activities that could be construed as bribery;
Maintain the robust Compliance Program, working on constantly enhancing it;
Making an internal complaints channel available;
Transparent disclosure of the corporate structures of its business group;
Ensuring that its accounting records are correct and transparent.
As part of its evolution and engagement with the key bodies, JBS joined the Instituto Ethos and signed the Business Pact for Integrity and Against Corruption developed by the institute in order to propagate good business practices and promote and more honest and ethical market. Within this same institute, the company participates in working groups on topics referring to ethics and integrity.
JBS was top of all food sector companies in the organization’s 2018 report, classified as the company with the most transparent international operations. Read more here.
