Nestlé in society Creating Shared Value and meeting our commitments 2015

Nestlé in society:
Creating Shared Value
Nutrition, health
and wellness
Rural development
Water
Environmental
sustainability
Human rights
and compliance
Our
people
G4-15, Customer health and safety G4-DMA, Marketing communications G4-DMA, G4-PR6, Compliance G4-DMA (Product responsibility)
Cross-functional WHO Code Compliance Committees
We have put in place a Corporate WHO Code Compliance
Committee system, which oversees compliance with the
Nestlé Policy on the WHO Code, national regulations on
implementing the WHO Code and the FTSE4Good criteria.
The committee is composed of, among others, three Executive
Board members at the global level. In addition, all higher-risk
countries have established local WHO Code Compliance
Committees that meet regularly to oversee local compliance
with the Nestlé Policy and local regulations. Read more about
our governance systems.
Policy setting
The Nestlé Nutrition CEO, who is a member of our Group
Executive Board, is accountable for implementing and monitoring
Nestlé’s compliance with the aim and principles of the WHO
Code. Global Public Affairs, which is separate from the infant
nutrition business, generates policies and reports externally on
progress regarding the application of the Nestlé Policy.
Grievance systems
In addition to the numerous internal and external audits of
our practices each year, we recognise the importance of
responding to the concerns consumers and other stakeholders
may have about the marketing of our infant food and BMS.
Our monitoring is complemented by internal and external
grievance mechanisms, which enable both our employees
and our external stakeholders to report any alleged
non-compliance:
• WHO Code Ombudsperson System: we continuously
strengthen our internal WHO Code Ombudsperson System,
which we launched in 2001. It allows employees in higherrisk
countries to report concerns about our infant food
marketing practices confidentially, outside their line
management. Any employee can report allegations or
concerns about WHO Code compliance directly to the
Group Ombudsman. In 2015, Nestlé had 57 active WHO
Code Ombudspersons;
• Nestlé Integrity Reporting System: this WHO Code
Ombudsperson approach is supported more widely by
the Nestlé Integrity Reporting System, which enables all
employees to anonymously report any non-compliant
behaviour they observe; and
• Tell us system: we encourage all our stakeholders to
contact us if they have any questions or concerns regarding
the marketing of our BMS products. We investigate all
concerns and allegations about non-compliance with the
Nestlé Policy and/or national regulations implementing the
WHO Code. Our Tell us system, launched in January 2014,
provides all external stakeholders with a means to report
potential violations via the internet or by toll-free line.
Transparency
We believe transparency is key to building trust. This is why
we make the following information public:
• Our external reports of compliance with the Nestlé Policy
on the WHO Code, national regulations implementing the
WHO Code and the FTSE4Good’s BMS marketing criteria;
• Our responses to external stakeholders who raise concerns
directly with us regarding our BMS marketing practices;
• Our positions on maternal, infant and young child nutrition;
and
• A comprehensive Q&A section, addressing questions on
why Nestlé supports breastfeeding and the application of
the WHO Code, and an explanation of what FTSE4Good is.
Our progress on compliance with the Nestlé Policy on the
WHO Code, national regulations implementing the WHO
Code, and FTSE4Good BMS marketing criteria, can be
measured through the Annual External Report as well as the
assurance statements produced by Bureau Veritas and the
verification reports from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC),
which we publish online, as evidence of our commitment to
transparency.
We also make public our response to concerns regarding
our practices raised directly with us by external stakeholders,
such as those contained in the reports Breaking the Rules,
Stretching the Rules (2014), published by the International Baby
Food Action Network (IBFAN), and Superfood for Babies
(2012), published by Save the Children.
We are committed to making our positions on maternal,
infant and young child nutrition publicly available:
• Position statement on WHO maternal, infant and young
child nutrition (MIYCN) implementation plan (2012);
• Position statement on promoting health through the course
of life (2013); and
• Position statement on WHO reform: governance reforms
engagement with NGOs (2013).
Engaging constructively with stakeholders
We consider collaboration between all key stakeholders,
including governments, industry and civil society
organisations, essential to promoting responsible conduct and
establishing accepted standards for assessing the marketing
of BMS. We encourage active and constructive engagement
and when doing so we follow the Nestlé Policy on transparent
interaction with authorities and organisations.
It is our hope that all concerned stakeholders can come
together to establish a widely accepted and transparent
process for the assessment of industry-wide marketing
practices of BMS, as a means to raise industry standards.
Read about how we encourage stakeholders and the
general public to express their concerns.
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