ISO 37001 Certification & Auditing

About the ISO 37001 Standard

ISO 37001 is the international standard for anti-bribery management systems. It provides a framework for businesses operating anywhere in the world to assess their internal anti-corruption processes and address any weaknesses. Any organization benefits from ISO 37001 assessments, although it may be particularly beneficial for those working in fields where bribery is a known risk-factor.

It covers a wide range of scenarios where bribery may occur:

• Directly by the organization
• By employees acting on the organization’s behalf
• Bribery conducted through intermediaries
• Bribery of the organization by third parties
• Bribery of the organization’s employees by third parties

ISO 37001 specifies a series of measures that assist your organization in preventing, detecting and addressing bribery. Its focus on prevention helps businesses mitigate the risk of bribery throughout their own operations and across value chains. The standard promotes a culture of transparency and integrity, and the expansion of effective measures to prevent and tackle problems related to bribery.

Becoming ISO 37001 certified is not mandatory, but as a growing number of organizations undergo audits, it is becoming an industry benchmark for a company’s approach to bribery.

Today more than ever, news of corruption scandals spreads fast and can prove devastating for companies – even the hint of bribery can seriously damage your reputation. ISO 37001 acts as an effective tool to help organizations combat the risk of bribery and maintain customer trust in their product and service offerings. Your stakeholders can be assured that your organization has implemented internationally recognized best practices for anti-bribery controls, and they can have confidence in the integrity of your internal processes.

Becoming ISO 37001 certified brings multiple benefits:

• Enhances competitiveness and credibility
  Implement an effective anti-bribery management system which supports a business culture based on transparency and integrity.
• Reduce intervention costs
  Develop internal processes that regularly monitor key challenges, to control risks and costs related to bribery.
• Improve service and product value
  Prevent the negative impacts of bribery and the consequences of associated cost increases.
• Enhance brand reputation
  With an internationally recognized certificate from TÜV SÜD that openly demonstrates your commitment towards the prevention of corruption
• Evidence of due diligence
  For legal purposes, the standard demonstrates that you have taken due diligence preventative measures in case evidence of bribery does emerge, which may help reduce fines

Our ISO 37001 Services

As an internationally accredited Certification Body, TÜV SÜD provides the expertise and experience to assess your organization’s anti-corruption program against ISO 37001 requirements. TÜV SÜD’s auditors hold the necessary national and international accreditations for management system auditing exercises, thereby ensuring that your ISO 37001 certification process is conducted with the highest degree of professionalism and conformance to international guidelines and standards.

What’s more, our auditors are required to follow a strict code of conduct through Auditor Codex, which assures both you and your customers of our complete independence and impartiality. Once your assessment and certification are complete, you can display the TÜV SÜD certification mark on your website, brochures and communications material as evidence that you have been audited by a trusted third party. The TÜV SÜD certification mark is widely recognized and respected as a symbol of quality, safety and sustainability, as our certificates represent third-party endorsement by a globally renowned organization.

ISO 37001 certification process

Becoming ISO 37001 certified can be broken down into two stages. Our highly experienced team of global auditors can tailor the process to your organization and guide you through the steps for streamlined certification:

Before the certification audit takes place, the management system must be implemented, and its effectiveness documented against compliance requirements.

• Become familiar with ISO 37001 objectives
• Identify gaps against relevant requirements
• Outline and implement necessary measures 

• Document effectiveness and compliance

• Certification process
• Stage 1 audit: Readiness review (possibly on-site, depending on national accreditation rules)
• Stage 2 audit: On-site
• A report is produced by our impartial auditors
• Your organization identifies and implements measures to correct the root cause of any non-conformances identified by the audit
• Issuance of ISO 37001 certificate
• Annual surveillance audit to maintain certificate