The Argentine Province of Santa Cruz to implement a groundbreaking ISO-certified anti-corruption compliance program

On November 2, 2020, governor Alicia Kirchner announced a project to develop and implement an Integrity and Transparency Program for the Executive Branch of the Province of Santa Cruz.

The Project seeks to provide the provincial Executive Branch with integrity and transparency tools and good practices. To that end, the province will consider the recommendations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the United Nations, and the Argentine Anti-corruption Office.

The Project consists of three different phases. The first involves diagnosing and identifying corruption risks. After that, the province will design its Integrity and Transparency Management System and implement tools to oversee its implementation, in light of the risks identified in the first phase. Lastly, the province intends to have the implemented Integrity and Transparency Management System certified under the ISO 37001 anti-bribery management system.

When announcing the project, the governor said that the program implementation process will require hard work and take, at least, two years. However, the Executive Branch of the province aims to complete the whole process before the term of the current administration ends and to install an ethics culture and increase initiatives in the fight against corruption.

The Province of Santa Cruz announced a groundbreaking initiative in Argentina, which may help to propel other provinces toward the implementation of their own anti-corruption compliance programs.