Regulatory compliance programmes…A roadmap to accountability

MANY people probably believe that all organisations strive to comply with standards, laws and rules, but the reality is far different as far too many companies and businesses fail to recognize the importance of standards, and comply with laws and rules.

According to Bill Dee, convenor, COPOLCO – the ISO Committee on Consumer Policy, often a failure to comply with regulations results from a lack of understanding as well as from the processes and procedures required to ensure effective regulatory compliance within an organisation.

Many breaches of laws and regulations occur because the organisation concerned has no structured system, or at least not an effective one in place, to ensure outcomes and conformance with laws. Sadly, too often, management only actively considers and devotes resources to the compliance risk of their businesses when a crisis occurs.

The consequences of failing to adequately manage regulatory risks have long been recognized, for not only do organisations that breach regulations face damages, injunctions and fines or other penalties. They may also have to contend with significant distractions to business management and damage to brand reputation.

With an effective compliance programme or quality system, an organisation can demonstrate to interested parties and stakeholders that it has systems in place to ensure compliance with relevant laws. Compliance programmes are an interesting part of risk management and can be a good tool to assist businesses to comply with laws and regulations.

Companies and organisations need guidance on an internal systematic approach to comply with all the legislative requirements with which an organisation is required to conform. This Technical Assistance is made available by National, Regional and International Standards Bodies. Locally, the Conformity Assessment Department of the GNBS offers such assistance.

The International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) believes that an international standard on regulatory compliance programmes would give guidance on how to set up the right procedures and processes to reduce the risk of non-compliance even inadvertently, with the law. Such a standard would set up a road map for organisations on the necessary structural elements or infra-structure for an effective programme, and its requirements for day to day continual operation.

For consumers, the widespread adoption of a compliance programme standard would enable them to benefit from:

* confidence that an organization implementing the standard will have a system that offers greater certainty of compliance with laws, regulations and standards, including rules covering cross border and global issues;

* the use of a practical, internationally standardized approach to implementation, offering the prospect of meaningful, variable and measurable claims by firms about progress toward standard objectives;

* an increased level of customer satisfaction with firms which adhere to international standards in the global market, thus enhancing the consumer- business relationship; and

* increased confidence among consumers that they are dealing with reputable merchants whose systems are compliant with ISO guidelines.

As the world interacts based on a globalised rulemaking process, we need a universally acknowledged set of guidelines on how to establish and maintain effective compliance systems. With an international standard on regulatory compliance systems, consumers could feel more confident that organisations are delivering the outcomes intended by regulations.

For further information please contact the GNBS on telephone numbers: 219-0065, 219-0066.

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