RABOBANK GROUP'S CODE OF CONDUCT Global RABOBANK OPENS TRAVELLING MUSEUM IN BRAZIL Food Safety Roundtable promotes quality in global food chain As ia Americas Rabobank Group's principle-based code of conduct has been around for 10years, although not many employees are aware of its existence. That's set to change. Ineke Tacq, who is responsible for the enrolement of this code within Rabobank, wants to create a dialogue among staff, so that employees feel able to discuss questions that clients may have on such topics like human rights, environmental concerns, and so on. "It's our goal to ensure that every part of the organisation brings the code to employees' attention. For the code's 10th anniversary we will publish a booklet or a PDF highlighting the code. In addition, Rabobank has an Ethics Committee, which provides advice on more concrete ethical dilemmas and CSR issues." "If employees have questions they can talk to their manager, other team members or the secretary of the Ethics Committee for more complex cases. The committee publishes its rulings, so that staff confronted with similar situations can check the advice given. The most important point is that we try to create an open and transparent culture to discuss topics within the company that will, we hope, lead to a better understanding of ethical and CSR issues in the future. Flaving a continous dialogue in our organisation, especially about cases or issues in the grey areas, helps Rabobank to develop its own guidelines." In May, Rabobank opened a travelling museum in Varginha, Brazil, which focuses on social and environmental issues. Varginha hasa local Rural Bank office and is one of the main regions for coffee production in the country. Featuring works by Brazilian and international artists, including contributions from two artists from Varginha, the museum aims to make society aware of socio-environmen- talism through the arts. The museum, which is open free of charge to the public, will travel to a number of other Rural Bank offices cities throughout Brazil after Varginha. Expected public to visit the museum in each city is around four thousand, among them one thousand students. "Many of the places that the museum will visit have few if any museums and limited access to culture, which is why they have been chosen for the project. The City Halls are partners and provided the spaces," explains Daniela Mariuzzo, Corporate Social Responsibility manager at Rabobank Brazil. About 40 works made by renowned - predominantly Brazil ian - artists will be exhibited in the museum. Rabobank Asia was the lead sponsor of The Food Safety Roundtable held in China in April.The Roundtable was well attended by over 120 F&A participants and provided a global platform to discuss food safety along the whole food value chain, and also how the private sector can play a role in addressing food safety issues in the absence of effective regulations. The two-day programme consisted of panel discussions and workshops on the issues and opportunities presented by food safety and the importance of traceability through out the food chain which has become longer, more complicated and cross-border. Besides speaking at the Roundtable, Rabobank also invited key clients like COFCO, Beijing Deqingyuan, Dachan Food Asia and Keystone Foods to attend, speak and be panelists. The attendees benefitted much from hearing the views of Rabobank's clients. In turn, our clients were able to get fïrst-hand information on trends and views from other leading F&A players. The Roundtable concluded with agro- industry leaders agreeing on the need for greater industry coordination at the international level and supporting the establishment of a Global Food Safety Steering Committee, which will focus on the creation of a Global Food Safety Forum. The Roundtable was a breakthrough event in terms of international attendance and sector representation from around the world. museu itinerantB Rabol n Hiiturma d" p®SiiJL ISSUE 20 THE WORD

Rabobank Bronnenarchief

blad 'RI The Word / The Word' (EN) | 2009 | | pagina 7