ITC :: Sustainability Report 2010

As an organisation which upholds and makes extraordinary efforts to ensure legitimacy, transparency and good governance, ITC’s business operations strive to comply with every relevant law of the nation. Gradually increasing social pressure on tobacco often leads to public debates on its consumption. Stringent quality standards/systems are established to respond to queries/ concerns and are made known to all stakeholders.

Our Cigarettes business complies fully with Standards of Weights and Measures Act (Packaged Commodities Rules), Central Excise Act and COTPA [Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003].

Our Foods business complies with all statutes including statutes on labelling and product information (e.g. Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, Standards of Weights & Measures Act, Food Products Order, Packaged Commodity Rules, etc.) relevant to packaged branded food products.

Our Education & Stationery Products and Agarbatti businesses comply with the requirements of Standards of Weights and Measures Act (including the Packaged Commodity Rules) and have built-in systems to ensure compliance, including review before the launch of a new category.

Our Information Technology business provides various Manuals & Release notes with proper labelling of software & services rendered to the customers.

In our Hotels business, brochures, in-room literature and the websites are used to provide relevant information regarding Rooms and Food & Beverages.

Our Personal Care Products business complies fully with the Standards of Weights and Measures Act (Packaged Commodities Rules), Drugs & Cosmetic Act, Bureau of Indian Standards and the applicable Trade Marks Law.

Our Paperboards & Specialty Papers business issues Quality Assurance Certificates for the consignments on request from customers. The information about the product, covering relevant technical parameters agreed with the customers, is documented in the product specimen sheet. The label on each pack bears the product name, substance (gsm), size, weight & batch/reference number for effective traceability.

In our Packaging & Printing business, we barcode all packages. Internal quality procedures follow norms/specifications agreed with the customers.

Products in our Agri business are primarily sold on a B2B basis and are labelled to meet customer requirements on quality, shipping marks or importing country labelling requirements. Where required we provide phytosanitary certificates, surveyor quality and quantity reports, Chamber of Commerce certificates, etc. We comply with all statutory requirements for exports. Products sold through Choupal Saagars and Choupal Fresh are labelled as per statutory requirements.

In the Leaf Tobacco business all the products are labelled in accordance with customer specifications. Labels normally contain information about the Grade, Crop Year, Weight, Lot No., Date and the Location at which the product is packaged and in certain cases, the destination and details of the customer. The bar code label on the packed product ensures ‘Product Traceability’ in the tobacco supply chain from Farm to the Customer.

All products, in our Lifestyle Retailing business conform with the Standards of Weights and Measures Act. Additionally, we also provide product information including attributes and salient features like fabric, styling, finishing, wash-care and benefits.

Our Safety Matches business complies fully with the requirements of the Standards of Weights and Measures Act (Packaging Commodity Rules). In addition, information is provided on the packaging regarding the safe usage of the product.

Marketing Communications

Our businesses have systems in place to ensure that we comply with all the statutes, codes and voluntary standards as stated. These are regularly audited to provide assurance.

In our Cigarettes business we ensure that all laws related to marketing such as The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act 2003 and any State Government laws on advertising/promotion are strictly followed and the compliance is monitored on a regular basis. We also have an internal code on marketing that apart from incorporating all relevant laws, also includes all the requirements under The Advertising Standards Council of India’s (ASCI) code of conduct. The internal code ensures that all communication follows relevant aspects of legislations and ASCI's Code. Review of this compliance is a continuous process for all marketing activities.

All products and services are in conformity with applicable laws and standards. In addition, we have a dedicated consumer response cell in order to answer any queries on the product.

The Foods, Personal Care Products, Agarbatti and Lifestyle Retailing businesses voluntarily follow the ASCI (Advertising Standards Council of India) Code for all marketing communications. Each product/campaign is vetted for compliance.

All communications in our Education & Stationery Products business in the form of Advertising, Promotion and Sponsorship adhere to voluntary and legal codes of conduct.

In our Hotel business marketing communication is governed by Self Regulation and guided by Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) Rules and guidelines.

Our Agri business has adopted a voluntary code for advertising and communication duly approved by the Divisional Management Committee. All external communication is also vetted by the divisional Legal resource.

All Communication in our Safety Matches business in the form of Advertising and Promotional Material adheres to voluntary and legal codes of conduct.

Compliance concerning provision and use of product and services

All our businesses/divisions have well-established systems, procedures and review mechanisms to identify and comply with the laws and regulations concerning our products and services. We continued to comply with all applicable statutes during 2009-2010.