Annual report 2010 - Imperial Tobacco Group

How We Leverage Our Key Assets continuedWe build strong and lastingpartnerships with retailersand industry partners.See examples overleaf of ourexecution excellence in practiceFuture FoundationsLink to StrategyBuilding asustainable futureStrategy Performance Governance FinancialsBuilding future foundations that underpin our sales strategyand enhance our long-term sustainability is fundamentalto the way we manage our business.We drive responsible behaviour throughout the organisation.Our corporate governance and internal control proceduresreinforce the high standards that our stakeholders rightlyexpect of us.Our ongoing commitment to these high standards isencapsulated in our revised Code of Conduct. The codeclearly sets out the standards of responsible behaviourswe expect from all our employees and is currently beingrolled out across the business.Our proactive approach to regulatory engagement andtackling the illicit trade in tobacco are critical to ourfuture success.The counterfeiting and smuggling of tobacco products isa worldwide problem that adversely affects governments,retailers, consumers and the legitimate tobacco industry.Enhancing our capabilities to combat illicit trade is anongoing priority and this year we were pleased to sign aco-operation agreement with the European Commissionand the Member States of the European Union to strengthenour joint anti-illicit trade initiatives.The agreement strengthens our ability to engage withgovernments and regulators on a range of issues, and wewill continue to support sensible, evidence based regulation.However, we will also continue to vigorously opposeregulation that is flawed, unreasonable or disproportionatein order to protect our business and defend the rights ofour customers and our consumers.1920