Our
Commitment to the UN Global Compact
v1.01,
revised on 8/6/2009
Background:
We have been
aware of the increasing appeal from our trading partners
to the adherence to the UN Global Compact, which was first
announced by the then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in an address to
The World Economic Forum on January 31, 1999, and was officially
launched at UN Headquarters in New York on July 26, 2000. To our best
understanding, the Global
Compact is the world's largest corporate citizenship
initiative. It has two objectives:
- Mainstream
the ten principles in business activities around the world;
and
- Catalyse actions in
support of broader UN goals, such as the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The Global Compact presents a
unique strategic platform for
participants to advance their
commitments to sustainability and corporate citizenship. Structured as
a public-private initiative,
the Global Compact offers a policy framework for the development,
implementation, and disclosure of
sustainability principles and practices related to its four core areas:
human rights, labour, the
environment, and anti-corruption.
Participation
in the Global Compact is a widely visible commitment to the
implementation,
disclosure, and promotion of its ten universal principles. A company
joining the initiative is
expected to:
- Make the Global Compact and its principles
an integral part of business strategy, day-to-day
operations, and organizational culture;
- Incorporate the Global Compact and its
principles in the decision-making processes of the
highest-level governance body (i.e. Board);
- Contribute to broad development objectives
(including the Millennium Development Goals) through
partnerships;
- Integrate in its annual report (or in a
similar public document, such as a sustainability
report) a description of the ways in which it implements the principles
and supports broader
development objectives (also known as the Communication on Progress);
and
- Advance the Global Compact and the case
for responsible business practices through advocacy and
active outreach to peers, partners, clients, consumers and the public
at large.
Our
Voluntary
Commitment to the Global Compact
We
understand that the Global Compact is not a regulatory instrument, but
rather a forum for discussion and a
network for communication for every members of the public and private
sectors. Nevertheless, regarding to the Golbal Compact,
we hold the following principles:
- We have no objection to the ten principles regarding human
rights,
labor, the environment and anti-corruption as provided in The Global
Compact, which constitutes the ethical framework for global trading. We
are also willing to commit ourselves to the achievement of the two
objectives as set forth in the Compact. Hence, we have never hesitated
and will never hesitate to sign on any document to show our pledge to
the voluntary adoption and advancement of the Compact.
- In addition to the fundamental values behind the Compact, we
must
also take into account the local values and take all
necessary steps to comply with the local laws. It is equally important
for a socially accountable enterprise to respect the local laws and
values in the process of trading.
- It is of fundamental importance that all principles should
be and
should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be applicable
reciprocally to both parties in the process of trading, regardless of
the size, status and nationality of the party/parties involved, or
fairness and
justice are deemed to be undermined.
Our
Concern to the Abuse of Global Compact
Since the establishment of our
companies in 1997, two years before the
Global Compact was first announced, we have advocated fair trading and
tried our best to adhere to
its fundamental principles voluntarily in dealing with our employees,
suppliers and customers. As a newly established SME, we had good
reasons to believe that the observation of these principles of fair
trading would benefit us in competing with gigantic corporations. In
the last decade, we have a proven record in maintaining excellent
relationship with purchasers from all over the world. Ninety percent of
our product was exported to Europe, 5% to United States and 5% to Asia
and Middle East. We have never hesitated to try our best to fulfill all
those sensible requirements from our customers. Nevertheless, it
brings to our atttention that some traders have abused the Global
Compact in the trading process. We feel
that we and all other SMEs have the right to protect our own interest
that we deserve. The enforcement of the Global Compact in the form
of
"supplier qualification" process is an controversal issue worthing
public attention and discussion: The following are our views over
the "supplier qualification" process:
- Under the principle of
fair trading, if the process of supplier qualification is justified,
the same should be applicable to the counter party in asking for the
certification of purchaser qualification. Albeit in the name
of transparency, it is not appropriate to demand for the disclosure of
information from any side, either unilaterally or bilaterally, to such
an extent that crosses the line dividing open information from
classified or private information.
- On account of the significant
differences between the prevailing
legal framework and social infrastructure of Hong Kong and Mainland
China, we must maintain a rather tactful organization of collarborating
companies and
mode of operations to attain the greatest efficiency. All the
activities are legal and ethical in both regions. Just like a
brandname holder never discloses its details of supply chain to the
customer, these detailed informations should be regarded as our
commercial secret but irrelevant to the adoption of the said principles.
- Frankly speaking, the demand for the
technical information of the
production process is an infringement of our intellectual property and
a violation of the international business convention and practice. We
have no problem to provide our customer an ingredient test report or
materials safety data sheet (MSDS) to prove that our products are safe
and environmental friendly except the stepping of production which is
also a commercial secret in all senses. It should also be noted that
all the production activities are regulated by the local government
under the jurisdiction of a sovereign state. There are proper
ordinances, including labour ordeinances and environmental protection
ordinances in all the
regions where we carry out our production activities.
- The qualification certification is
itself a discriminatory measure
against SMEs in view of the huge cost accrued in acquiring the
certification. We are pleased to test our product for every single
order but much reserved in spending an immense amount of money and
other intangible resources to acquire all the said qualifications.
Conclusion:
We support all the campaigns that
promote the ethical sense of
fairness and justice which are universally accepted by all people in
the world. However, all traders must be cautious in enforcing the
principles in the trading process. The abuse of the Global Compact is
on the
contrary a breach of its spirit upon the origination. As a lot of NGOs
criticize, the use of the Global Compact tends to become a public
relations instrument
for "bluewash" or even a hypocritical behavior of the
multinational corporation.