BS 10500 - Specification for an anti-bribery management system responds to a growing requirement and interest in an anti-bribery standard. Interest in the UK has increased in particular as a result of the UK Bribery Act which came into force in July 2011 and introduces a new offence of “failure of a commercial organization to prevent bribery”. Compliance with the new British Standard, BS 10500, will help companies prove to both internal and external stakeholders that appropriate procedures are in place to prevent bribery.
Shirley Bailey-Wood, director of publishing at BSI, said: “Responsible organisations are increasingly seeing bribery prevention as on a par with safety and quality control. They want a means to demonstrate that they have an adequate system to prevent bribery taking place. A significant amount of guidance already exists on anti-bribery however as yet there is no system of measuring to an agreed benchmark that an organization’s anti-bribery practices are adequate. This is what BS 10500 will provide.”
The specification is appropriate for use by the private, public and voluntary sectors. It is of particular interest to those organisations involved in defence, oil and gas, mining, engineering and construction. BS 10500 has received a powerful declaration of support from the Anti-Corruption Standing Committee of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO), a non-governmental international organisation that brings together national engineering organisations from over 90 nations and represents some 15 million engineers from around the world.
