Courtesy: ISO 37001 Anti-Bribery management system
Certificaciones del Peru (CERPER) issued an accredited certification for ISO 37001 to the Peruvian Ministry of Education (MINEDU), attesting to its anti-bribery management system, even though the ministry is under a formal investigation for bribery.
MINEDU was at the center of a major scandal involving a US company, Quad/Graphics, which was fined over $10M by the SEC for bribing Peruvian government officials between 2o10 and 2016. Those bribes included payments to MINEDU officials.
Despite the age of that case, Peruvian officials only took up a domestic investigation in early 2020. In January 2021, the case was closed due to bureaucratic bungling, but then re-opened in June of that same year.
The value of the services rendered under the bribes was calculated to be nearly 360 million soles, or $US 96.5 million. The amount of the bribes paid is thought to be $US 117,000.
The investigation remains open, as Peruvian prosecutors investigate whether to bring civil or criminal charges to those involved.
Despite this public spectacle, MINEDU received an accredited ISO 37001 certificate in February of 2021, as the investigations were underway. That certificate was issued by CERPER and accredited by the Peruvian standards body INACAL, a member of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF).
ISO 37001 is a newer certification scheme, purporting to show evidence the recipient organization has robust methods to prevent bribery. While the INACAL listing for CERPER does not list which standards the certification body is accredited for, an image of the ISO 37001 certificate issued to MINEDU does bear the INACAL logo.
Peru is a hotbed of “legitimate” ISO certificates issued by fully-accredited, prominent certification bodies under suspicious circumstances. The largest CBs operating in Peru are SGS and Bureau Veritas, who routinely issue “tri-system” certifications for ISO 9001, 14001, and 45001 to companies later found to be engaged in environmental pollution or workplace violations. Bureau Veritas continued to certify Odebrecht, the company behind the “Operation Car Wash” scandal which led to the impeachment of multiple Peruvian presidents. Bureau Veritas then rewarded an Odebrecht manager with a Director role.
Odebrecht was re-formed as Novonor, and received its own ISO 37001 anti-bribery certificate in 2021. It is not clear which CB issued that certificate.
The IAF has proven wholly incapable of policing corruption in the ISO certification scheme, and the release of “accredited” anti-bribery certificates is seen by many as a global punchline. ISO 37001 is hotly pursued in regions awash with bribery, such as United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and India.
Institutional corruption has led to Peru having five different Presidents since 2020. Former President Alan Garcia committed suicide when officials were preparing to arrest him for his role in the Odebrecht scandal.
The certification body Quality Austria offers ISO 37001 certification services, and yet is under a criminal investigation in Vienna after Oxebridge raised allegations its senior management accepted bribes in order to overlook self-dealing by its Qatar regional office.