Supplier charter

The Suppliers undertake to comply strictly with all laws and regulations applicable to their entity in the countries in which they operate, including in particular:

2.1 Labor law and employee protection

The Suppliers undertake to:

• Comply with applicable social legislation.
• Comply with rules relating to working hours, remuneration, and occupational health and safety.
• Comply with the Fundamental Conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO).

Likewise, the Suppliers undertake to guarantee their employees and staff a safe and healthy working environment, in compliance with applicable regulations.

In particular, they:

• Implement occupational risk prevention policies.
• Provide the necessary protective equipment.
• Train their employees in safety requirements.
• Establish procedures for managing incidents and accidents.

2.2 Ethics legislation

The Suppliers acknowledge and accept:

• The prohibition of any form of active or passive corruption, whether public or private.
• The prohibition of any act of influence peddling.
• The prohibition of any misappropriation of funds, misuse of corporate assets, unlawful favoritism or unlawful taking of interests.
• More generally, the prohibition of any action that undermines probity, transparency and integrity in business relationships.

The Suppliers further undertake to:

• Not participate, directly or indirectly, in money laundering or terrorist financing operations.
• Implement appropriate internal procedures to prevent these risks.

2.3 Competition law

The Suppliers undertake to:

• Comply with national and international rules on competition.

Likewise, they acknowledge and accept:

• The prohibition of any unlawful agreement, anti-competitive practice or abuse of a dominant position.

• Environmental commitments

The Suppliers undertake to:

• Comply with all environmental laws and standards applicable to their entity.
• Take, at their own expense, any measure necessary to remain constantly in compliance with the legal provisions in force concerning environmental protection and the fight against pollution (noise, air, water, discharges and waste, etc.).
• The Suppliers must implement all necessary measures to prevent, reduce and control their environmental impacts, particularly with regard to resource management, emission reduction and waste treatment. They shall also ensure the continuous improvement of their environmental performance and guarantee the compliance of their activities, products and services throughout the supply chain.

Protection of personal data

The Suppliers undertake to:

• Comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR – Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data) and/or any applicable data protection regulation.

• Implement technical and organizational measures ensuring the security and confidentiality of the personal data processed.

The Suppliers undertake to comply with all applicable regulations on economic sanctions, trade embargoes and national, European or international restrictive measures.

They guarantee in particular that they:

• Are not listed on a sanctions list.
• Are not owned or controlled by an entity subject to sanctions.
• Do not carry out operations prohibited by applicable sanctions regimes.
• Immediately inform IPC of any situation likely to affect their compliance in this respect.

The Suppliers undertake to:

• Preserve the confidentiality of all information of any nature (commercial, scientific, technical, financial, etc.), data, documents or know-how communicated by IPC in the context of contractual relationships.
• Not disclose such information to third parties without prior written authorization.
• Implement appropriate security measures to prevent any unauthorized access, loss or disclosure.

The Suppliers undertake to:

• Avoid any actual or potential conflict of interest situation likely to impair their independence or objectivity, in particular where such conflict is liable to affect, directly or indirectly, the performance or terms of the contractual relationship with IPC.

• Inform IPC without delay of any situation that may constitute a conflict of interest in the context of the contractual relationship and take the necessary measures to remedy it.

The Suppliers undertake to:

• Respect and support the Universal Declaration of Human Rights established by the United Nations.
• Ensure that they are not complicit, directly or indirectly, in violations of these rights.

The Suppliers undertake to:

• Implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure the security, integrity and availability of their information systems.
• Protect data and information against any unauthorized access, loss, alteration or disclosure.
• Prevent the risks of cyberattacks.
• Inform IPC without delay of any security incident likely to have an impact on the data, systems or activities related to the contractual relationship.

The Suppliers undertake to strictly respect all intellectual property rights held by IPC, including rights relating to patents, patent applications, trademarks, copyright, software, databases, know-how, trade secrets, etc.

In this respect, the Suppliers shall refrain from:

• Using the information, documents, technical data or any other material communicated by IPC for purposes other than those strictly necessary for the performance of the contractual relationship concerned.
• Filing, or causing to be filed, directly or indirectly, in their own name or in the name of a third party, any patent, trademark, design, copyright or any other intellectual property right based, in whole or in part, on, or containing, information or materials belonging to IPC.
• Claiming any intellectual property right over the materials transmitted by IPC.

The Suppliers also undertake to guarantee that the services performed for the benefit of IPC do not infringe the intellectual property rights of third parties.

The Suppliers undertake to:

• Deploy the principles of this charter throughout their supply chain.
• Ensure that their suppliers, service providers and subcontractors comply with principles equivalent to those referred to in this charter.
• Implement appropriate corrective actions in the event of non-compliance within their supply chain.

To verify compliance with the commitments made hereunder, IPC reserves the right to:

• Request any document or information enabling it to verify the Supplier’s compliance with the requirements of the charter.
• Carry out, directly or through an appointed third party, documentary or on-site audits, subject to reasonable prior notice.
• Request the implementation of corrective measures in the event of an identified breach.

The Supplier undertakes to cooperate in good faith with any request for information or audit.

In the event of a breach, IPC reserves the right to suspend or terminate the contractual relationship, at the sole fault of the Supplier, without prejudice to any other remedy available under the law applicable to the contractual relationship.

IPC is a signatory to the Sustainable Procurement and Supplier Relations Charter (available here), supported by Médiateur des entreprises and Conseil National des Achats, which aims to promote responsible practices toward suppliers.