HKCTC Professional Integrity and Corruption Prevention in Testing and Certification Webinar 2021

The Hong Kong Council for Testing and Certification (HKCTC), Hong Kong Accreditation Service (HKAS) and Hong Kong Business Ethics Development Centre of Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) jointly organized a Webinar entitled “Professional Integrity and Corruption Prevention in Testing and Certification” held on 5^th July 2021.  Integrity and credibility form part of the core value of Hong Kong’s testing and certification (T&C) sector, and are an important aspect of our competitive edge. To sustain the sector’s good reputation, it is imperative for the T&C organizations to maintain a high standard of integrity and adopt good practices in their business and operations.

Ms. Lau (ICAC) was the guest speaker for the topic “Professional Integrity and Corruption Prevention in Testing and Certification”. Her talk included four topics and they were “Corruption Prone Area”, “Prevention of Bribery Ordinance”, “Key to Integrity Management” and “Services Provided by ICAC”.

Firstly, she mentioned Professional Integrity is one of three key successful factors in Hong Kong brand. 

Then some of prone areas were briefed such as acceptance of advantage and offer of advantage, as well as other areas of concern included “Accept inappropriate entertainment from clients/contractors”, “Leak out company / clients’ confidential information” and “Mishandle conflict of interest”. 

And then Ms. Lau introduced three tests of professional integrity and they were “Legal Test”, “Compliance Test” and “Sunshine Test”. For the Legal Test, she described the prevention of bribery ordinance (PBO) that included four areas as shown in the diagram.

She mentioned corruption involved 4As in Section 9 of PBO and they were Agent (employee), Approval, Advantage and Act that both acceptor and offeror are criminally liable.

In case study, the senior executive violated all of 4As corruption factors including Capacity Test, Company’s Code of Conduct, Definition of Advantage, and Official Dealings with Work Partners.

After that Ms. Lau stated the definition of Advantage included gift, load, employment contract, service and (non-) exercise of any power.  However, Entertainment is exception. The definition of entertainment is “Food or drink provided for immediate consumption on the spot. Any other connected entertainment connected with or provided at the same time.”  However, she reminded us that frequent and lavish meal could be “Sweetening” process!

The second test is “Compliance Test” that related to principal’s approval under company’s “Code of Conduct”. 

One of famous case about TIC industry for forging test report in Hong Kong was described.  Ms. Lau briefed the malpractices in section 9(3) of PBO included forging quotations of goods and services, falsifying attendance records, and using false documents to deceive staff allowance / benefits.

Finally, she discussed the mishandling of conflict of interest.  She suggested us to avoid any conflict of interest situation or the perception of such conflicts.  When actual or potential conflict of interest arises, declare to the approving authority through the reporting channel using a standard form. 

Lastly, Ms. Lau stated the “Sunshine Test” and summarized the managing staff integrity in 2, 3 & 4 that means 2x Factors Leading to Integrity Problems, 3x Corruption Risk Analysis and 4x tips on Integrity Management.

Reference:

HKCTC - https://www.hkctc.gov.hk/en/home/index.html

HKAS - https://www.itc.gov.hk/en/quality/hkas/index.html

ICAC - http://www.icac.org.hk/en/home/index.html

Previous ICAC involved T&C Seminars:

20170710: HKCTC Seminar on Integrity and Professional Development in Testing and Certification Industry - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2017/07/hkctc-seminar-on-integrity-and.html

20161012: HKCTC Seminar on Professional Integrity in Testing and Certification - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2016/10/hkctc-seminar-on-professional-integrity.html

20160627: HKCTC Seminar on Professional Integrity in Testing and Certification - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.hk/2016/06/hkctc-seminar-on-professional-integrity.html

20150713: HKCTC Seminar on Professional Integrity in Testing and Certification - http://qualityalchemist.blogspot.hk/2015/07/hkctc-seminar-on-professional-integrity.html

20140114: ICAC Training Workshop for HKAS Accredited Organizations - http://qualityalchemist.blogspot.hk/2014/01/icac-training-workshop-for-hkas.html

20131008: HKCTC Seminar on Integrity and Professional Development in Testing & Certification Industry - http://qualityalchemist.blogspot.hk/2013/10/hkctc-seminar-on-integrity-and.html

20111103: Ethical Management Seminar for Testing and Certification Industry - http://qualityalchemist.blogspot.hk/2011/11/ethical-management-seminar-for-testing.html

20110916: Seminar on Supports to Testing and Certification Industry - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.hk/2011/09/seminar-on-supports-to-testing-and.html

20101025: Seminar on Support to Testing and Certification Industry - http://qualityalchemist.blogspot.hk/2010/10/seminar-on-support-to-testing-and.html