Ministry of Finance Printing Plant Ethical Management Standards Promotion
Update:
- What are "improper gifts" and "improper entertainment"?
To implement the organizational culture of ethical management, the Plant explicitly stipulates that our personnel shall not directly or indirectly provide, receive, promise, or request any improper benefits, or engage in other behaviors that violate integrity, laws, or fiduciary duties during business execution. This includes the prohibition of "improper gifts" (when the gift-giver gives inappropriate gifts to the recipient) and "improper entertainment" (when the host provides inappropriate dining and social activities to the guest). - Related Cases and Review
(1) Gifts Section: Case of Vendor Giving Traditional Festival Gifts
Case Summary Vendor A, a winning bidder for one of our plant's procurement cases, sent two fruit gift boxes worth about NT$3,000 to our handling staff A before Mid-Autumn Festival to facilitate resolution of procurement disputes. Staff A turned the gift boxes over to the Government Ethics Office for subsequent handling and reported to the director for registration and review. Review and Discussion Vendor A had ongoing procurement performance disputes with the Plant. The Plant's decisions, execution, or non-execution would affect Vendor A. Vendor A's gift of boxes to staff A was clearly not incidental. Even if the market price was below NT$500, staff A should not accept them and "must" refuse or return them, and report to supervisors and notify the Government Ethics Office. (2) Entertainment Section: Case of Accepting Vendor's Dinner Invitation and Acting as Intermediary
Case Summary Person A was our plant's chief of staff. Person B, the person in charge of Company A, was a former employee of our plant. To get Company A listed as one of our plant's material suppliers, Person B invited Person A to dinner at a high-end Japanese restaurant and asked Person A to help influence matters outside its authority, hoping to be listed as a supplier. Review and Discussion - Company A was seeking to join our plant's supplier list and had interests at stake. Person A should not participate in Company A's dining and entertainment. Even if there was no direct relationship with Person A's current duties, it should not accept invitations to dining events that are clearly inappropriate for its position and duties. Person A's private acceptance of an invitation from Company A, which had interests at stake, violated our plant's prohibition on improper dining and social activities.
- If Person A realized Company A's purpose after attending, it should have rejected the request and paid for its own meal. Additionally, to avoid related disputes, Person A should keep payment receipts and report to the director and notify the Government Ethics Office in accordance with regulations for reference and proving its innocence.