ISO 37001

What is ISO 37001?

Requirements' identifies a management standard to help organizations in the fight against corruption, by establishing a culture of integrity, transparency and compliance.

The standard was developed by ISO technical committee ISO/TC 309, chaired by lawyer Neill Stansbury, and published for the first time on October 15, 2016. The standard was based upon existing guidance from the International Chamber of Commerce, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Transparency International, and other organizations. The standard also incorporated guidance issued by leading international regulators such as the US Department of Justice, US Securities and Exchange Commission, and UK Ministry of Justice.

The standard was adopted by the governments of Singapore and Peru for their anti-bribery management systems and formed the basis for the "Shenzhen Standard", an official anti-bribery standard published by the city of Shenzhen, China in June 2017. Microsoft and Walmart have also announced intentions to obtain ISO 37001 certification.

Main requirements of the standard

The ISO 37001:2016 adopts the "ISO High Level Structure (HSL)" in 10 chapters in the following breakdown

  • 1- Purpose
  • 2- Reference standards
  • 3- Terms and definitions
  • 4- Organization contexts
  • 5- Leadership
  • 6- Planning
  • 7- Support
  • 8- Operating activities
  • 9- Performance evaluationM
  • 10- Improvement

The standard only addresses management systems and is not a comprehensive anti-fraud or anti-corruption standard. It also contains a great deal of subjectivity as many requirements are qualified by terms such as "appropriate" and "reasonable". Therefore, the actual meaning and relevance of ISO 37001 certification is dependent largely upon the thoroughness of the certifying body.

Bribery is one of the world’s most destructive and challenging issues. With over US$ 1 trillion paid in bribes each year*, the consequences are catastrophic, reducing quality of life, increasing poverty and eroding public trust.

Yet despite efforts on national and international levels to tackle bribery, it remains a significant issue. Recognizing this, ISO has developed a new standard to help organizations fight bribery and promote an ethical business culture. It is designed to help your organization implement an anti-bribery management system, or enhance the controls you currently have. It helps to reduce the risk of bribery occurring and can demonstrate to your stakeholders that you have put in place internationally recognized good-practice anti-bribery controls.

What are the Benefits of ISO 37001?

By implementing anti-bribery management system as per ISO 37001:2016 standard, any organization can achieve following benefits from the system :

  • Reduces the risk of bribery
  • Monitors and manages risk throughout your business
  • Promotes ethical business culture
  • Proves employees' commitment to anti-bribery best practices
  • Opportunities to improve efficiency across working practices
  • Protects the company, assets, shareholders and directors from bribery
  • Expansion of business opportunities
  • Continual improvement of services and products
  • Establishment of ethical global practices

Who should use ISO 37001?

ISO 37001 can be used by any organization , large or small whether it be public, private or voluntary sector, and in any country. The anti-bribery management system can be a stand-alone system or integrated into an already implemented management system such as the Quality Management System ISO 9001. An organization can choose to implement the anti-bribery management system in conjunction with or as part of other systems, such as those relating to quality, environment and safety. the correct implementation provides the possibility for the company to be certified by an internationally accredited certification body as for example QACS International www.qacsworld.com

The anti-bribery management standard lasts for three years and is subject to mandatory audits to ensure that you are compliant. At the end of the three years, you will be required to complete a reassessment audit in order to receive the standard for an additional three years.

ISO 37001 Accreditation

QACS is an accredited certification body which provides International Organization for Standardization (ISO) management system certification and inspection services to organizations globally.

QACS is accredited by IAS (International Accreditation Service) USA to audit and certify organizations to ISO 37001.

QACS is also accredited by QASL Independent accreditation to audit and certify organizations to ISO 37001.