Difference of Code of Ethics from Code of Conduct

CODE OF ETHICS

Responsibility, honesty, integrity, ethical behavior, fairness, hard work, charity, service, and salesmanship – these are the things that never change and are foundation of all success.

-Larry Winget

Definition of Code of Ethics

• A formal document that states an organization’s primary values and the ethical rules it expects employees to follow.
• They are generally meant to identify the company's expectations of workers and to offer guidance on handling some of the more common ethical problems that might arise in the course of doing business. It is hoped that having such a policy will lead to greater ethical awareness, consistency in application, and the avoidance of ethical disasters.
• Are often adopted by management, not to promote a particular moral theory, but rather because they are seen as pragmatic necessities for running an organization in a complex society in which moral concepts play an important part. They are distinct from moral codes that may apply to the culture, education, and religion of a whole society.
• An enterprise also has its responsibility to its:

• Investor and owner, for fair returns on their investments;
• Customers, for safe products;
• Suppliers, for fair deals; and
• Employees, for decent wages.

Difference of Code of Ethics from Code of Conduct

• A code of ethics will start by setting out the values that underpin the code and will describe a company's obligation to its stakeholders. The code is publicly available and addressed to anyone with an interest in the company's activities and the way it does business. It will include details of how the company plans to implement its values and vision, as well as guidance to staff on ethical standards and how to achieve them.

• A code of conduct is generally addressed to and intended for employees alone. It usually sets out restrictions on behavior, and will be far more compliance or rules focused than value or principle focused.

Types of Codes of Ethics

• Compliance-based

• Does not only set out guidelines for conduct, but also lay out penalties for violations.
• To ensure that the aims and principles of the code of ethics are followed, some companies appoint a compliance officer. This individual is tasked with keeping up to date on changes in regulation codes and monitoring employee conduct to encourage conformity.
• Is based on clear-cut rules and well-defined consequences rather than individual monitoring of personal behavior. Therefore, despite strict adherence to the law, some compliance-based codes of conduct do not promote a climate of moral responsibility within the company.

• Value-based

• Deals with a company's core value system
• May discuss standards of responsible conduct as they relate to the larger public good and the environment.
• May require a greater degree of self-regulation than compliance-based codes.

Ethics Organizations in the Philippines

• Management Association of the Philippines (MAP)

• Promotes management excellency for nation-building as its main objective by sharing of best management practices, benchmarking with our counterpart organizations in other countries, networking with other business organizations here and abroad, educational activities that enhance the knowledge, skills and values of management practitioners and educators nationwide, training and development programs that produce professional managers and, advocacy for reforms that help shape a brighter future for the Philippines.

• Philippine Chamber of Food Manufacturers, Inc. (Food Chamber)

• Regulatory and Scientific Affairs

• Provide linkage with institutions and its attached agencies to be able to provide technical support and enable members and other stakeholders to improve product quality, production capability, cost competitiveness, market share, environmental issues, and more.

• Department of Health – Food and Drug Administration (DOH-FDA)
• Food and Drug Administration – Noncomissioned Officer
• Department of Science and Technology (DOST)
• World Health Organization (WHO)
• Foreign Investments Act (FIA)

• Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Group

• Assists members and stakeholders in market-matching activities, as well as in securing appropriate raw material sourcing and allocation at preferential arrangements – participate in both local and international events to promote our Philippines products

• Legislative

• Is tasked to contribute in the formulation of resolutions, sustaining advocacies, and lobbying activities with the government as contained in the legislative agenda, packaging, trade regulations and standards, critical to attain sustained growth of the food and agricultural industry.
• Help obtain maximum support in terms of fiscal and non-fiscal incentives and other related benefits

• FDA laws
• Position statements, constitution and by-laws
• House Bills
• Senate Bills on Food Chamber industry position (health, environment, and food)

Legal Responsibilities

• Corporation Code (Batas Pambansa Bilang 68)

• Dictates the most important legal responsibilities toward investors and owners, as it guarantees that the enterprise is managed in the interest of its stockholders

• Consumer Act of the Philippines (RA 7894)

• Details the legal responsibilities of enterprises toward their buyers, suppliers, tradesmen, and distributors.
• It mandates that the conduct of business and industry must implement measures for the following:

• Protection against hazards of health and safety;
• Protection against deceptive, unfair, and unconscionable sales acts and practices;
• Provision of information and education to facilitate sound choice and the proper exercise of rights by the consumer; and
• Involvement of customer representatives in the formulation of social and economic policies

• Implementing agencies tasked to ensure product safety under this are the following:

• Department of Health (DOH) for food, drugs, cosmetics, devices, and substances
• Department of Agriculture (DA) for agricultural products
• Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for consumer products not administered by the DOH and DA

• Trade transactions for consumer products are guided by the Bureau of Product Standards (BPS) under the DTI. Labeling requirements and price rates for food and drugs, cosmetics, devices, and substances are overseen by the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) under the DOH. The DA’s Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Standards (BAFS), the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), and the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) administer the export and import standards of Philippine agricultural products.
• It also informs suppliers, tradesmen, and distributors of their rights and the attendant penalties for noncompliance with the provisions of the law.

* A selection of government activities addressing the agriculture, manufacturing, and

service sectors that may be used to encourage legal responsibility practice of future

Business Ethics practitioners are as follows:

        - Project NOAH (Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards) and DOST,

providing information services and using cutting-edge technology for disaster

prevention and mitigation

- Dengue Prevention and Control Program and DOH, providing detailed information on

reduction of dengue infection

- Busog Lusog at Talino (BLT) Feeding Program, schoolchildren feeding program through

the DepEd, DSWD, and the DOH

- Metro Festival Paskong Pinoy and DTI, featuring holiday décor from indigeneous

materials, to urge patronage of Philippine décor manufacturing establishments

- participation in National Heritage Month by the Philippine Rice Research Institute,

through exhibits of traditional farm implement.

• Minimum Wage Law

• Entails the compliance of organizations with the minimum wages that their employees are entitled to.
• This is administered by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)

• Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995 (RA 8042)

• The country shows how they look after employees working in other countries through the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA)

• OWWA is the government welfare institution that protects and promotes the interest of the overseas Filipino workers. For a USD25 membership fee, the OFWs are entitled to the following:

• Social benefits, i.e., disability and dismemberment, death and burial benefits, and
• Education and training benefits, which include pre-departure education, scholarships, training, and incentive programs.

• POEA was created in 1982 under Presidential Decree 797, and reorganized under Executive Order 247 in 1987. This administers RA 8042, known as the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995. This promotes the welfare and protects the rights of migrant workers, and whenever applicable, all overseas Filipinos, in affiliation with the DFA, DOLE, and OWWA. In 2007, RA 9422 amended RA 8042, strengthening the regulatory power of the POEA which includes the following:

• Regulating private sector participation in the recruitment and overseas placement of workers by setting up a licensing and registration system;
• Informing migrant workers, not  only of their rights as overseas workers, but also of their rights as human beings; and
• Deploying only to countries where the Philippines has concluded bilateral agreements or arrangements.

• Environment Legislation, which includes the following:

• Presidential Decree (PD) 1586: established an environmental impact statement system

• This also includes other environmental management-related issues

• RA 6969 is concerned with the Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Waste Control Act of 1990

• Covers the importation manufacture, processing, handling, storage, transportation, sale, distribution, use and disposal of all unregulated chemical substances and mixtures in the Philippines

• RA 8749 includes the Clean Air Act of 1999

• Oversees the formulation of a holistic national program against air pollution that shall be implemented by the government, through proper delegation, and effective coordination of function and activities

• RA 9003 is concerned with the Philippine Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000

• Calls for the institutionalization of a national program that will manage the control, transfer, transport, process, and disposal of solid waste in the country

• RA 9275 looks at the Clean Water Act of 2004

• Aims to protect the countries bodies’ of water from pollution from land-based sources (industries and commercial establishments, agriculture, and community or household activities)

• RA 9512 gives permission for the Environmental Awareness and Education Act of 2008

• Mandates to catalyse environmental education in the country

        * The Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) certifies that based on the representations of the proponent-enterprise, the project or undertaking will not cause significant negative environmental impact. The certificate attests compliance with Environmental Impact System (EIS) and commitment to implement the Environmental Management Pan (EMP).