Syngenta Annual Review 2010 - CEO Water Mandate

Syngenta
Annual Review 2010
Creating our offer
34
Stewardship
For Syngenta, the responsible and ethical management
of all our products – from discovery through to use and
ultimate disposal or discontinuation – is a top priority.
For example, over the past nine years, the Small
Farmer Syngenta (PAS) Program has been making
an impact in the Andean, Caribbean and Central
American (ACC) region. In collaboration with local
authorities, it has provided over 270,000 small potato
and vegetable farmers with basic training in obtaining
and sowing the best seeds, using crop protection
products safely and effectively, and adopting better
agricultural practices.
In June 2010, we collaborated on a training session
for medical staff in Laikipia East – a district in Kenya
with 60,000 farmers. Conducted by the Head of the
National Poison Center, the session was supported
by the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture
through the Agriculture Agri-chemicals Association
of Kenya and the Government of Kenya National
Poison Centre (Ministry of Health).
The Seeds business actively applies the Excellence
Through Stewardship (ETS) program to our operations.
The program promotes responsible management of
plant biotechnology, primarily by developing and
implementing stewardship practices across the entire
life cycle of a product and educating the public about
these practices. Syngenta is a founding member of
ETS and on the board of directors.
Beyond the safe handling of our products, Syngenta
stewardship encompasses making agriculture more
sustainable by investing in the environment. We lead
many projects that help protect biodiversity and
precious natural resources such as water and soil. We
comply with all government requirements regarding
the management and use of our products, including
the International Code of Conduct on the Distribution
and Use of Pesticides
Another important area of stewardship is application
technology, where product safety and the preservation
of the environment remain top priorities. To prevent
potential problems with application, customers need
to know as much as possible about the interaction
between our products, plants, the application devices,
and environmental factors like temperature, humidity
and wind. We have begun to integrate our expertise
into product and service strategies. And we are working
closely with many external partners, including spray
equipment manufacturers, universities and distributors.
Compliance and risk management
Compliance and risk management are at the heart
of protecting the ongoing value of our business and
the safety of our people, our business partners and
the communities in which we operate. Syngenta has
a formal, coordinated process for actively identifying,
mapping, monitoring and controlling risk – whether it is
financial, operational, or strategic.
The Syngenta Code of Conduct sets our commitment
to ethical, legal, social and environmental responsibility.
It outlines our commitment to build and maintain trust
in Syngenta, and to integrate our responsibilities in
everything we do. We comply with all laws, as well
as national and international codes and conventions,
and uphold the principles set out in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and the International
Labor Organization’s Core Conventions.
Compliance and risk management are everybody’s
responsibility. We have established processes to train
and support our employees on compliance matters.
Employees are encouraged to report any suspected
breaches. Local laws and regulations govern our
social and environmental behavior. We set the highest
standards for compliance, which are overseen by
the Compliance and Risk Management Committee.
Engaging with stakeholders
We are committed to meeting the expectations we have
set for ourselves, as well as delivering on what society
expects of us. It matters that our employees and other
stakeholders have confidence in us as a worthy
partner that can genuinely make a difference by
contributing to rural economies and food security.
Syngenta aims to create value with our stakeholders.
From a business perspective, we believe that our
success depends on honest, open dialogue and
collaboration – with other companies, with research
institutions, with governments and NGOs.
Most people today agree on the issues around
agriculture; the debate centers around the solutions.
Syngenta is actively engaged in this debate, both
internally and externally, on the way food is produced,
stored, processed, distributed and accessed.
We believe that clarity and frank discussion – even
around difficult questions – is key to affecting change.
We are members of the Sustainability Consortium
and the Keystone Field to Market Initiative, as well as
a range of other sustainability round tables. We are also
a member of the World Economic Forum and we
actively participate in its work groups for the “New
Vision for Agriculture,” and the “Water Initiative.” As a
global science-based company, we are increasingly
engaged in international forums related to food
security, resource efficiency, and the development
of rural economies.