Compliance is our number-one priority worldwide. As an international company that also operates in developing and emerging markets, we set high requirements for effective compliance management. But to us, compliance does not end with adherence to statutory regulations. Instead, we aspire to always abide by the ethical principles we've defined in our Values. We want to do good business – to operate profitably while living up to the highest ethical standards.
Founded on Group-wide guidelines
Our entrepreneurial conduct is underpinned by clear guidelines that apply across all of our facilities.
- The Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany Code of Conduct guides our employees in taking an ethical course of action. A copy of this code is provided to every employee; it explains the principles for interacting with business associates, general partners, co-workers, and employees, as well as the communities in which we operate.
- The Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany Human Rights Charter supplements the Code of Conduct with global principles, such as the core labor standards of the International Labour Organization (ILO).
- Since 2014, we have also had a uniform anti-corruption guideline that applies across the whole Group.
- In addition to this, our Pharma Code (for prescription medicines) and our Consumer Health Code (for our over-the-counter product business) define crucial fundamentals for interactions with our partners in the health industry.