Mexican Standard on Social Responsibility

The Mexican Standard on Social Responsibility NMX-SAST-26000-IMNC-2011 - Guidance on Social Responsibility (“NMX-IMNC-26000”), shall become effective 60 days after its publication dated on June 19, 2012, in the Official Gazette of the Federation. As a consequence of the foregoing, the Mexican  Standard NMX-SAST-004-IMNC-2004 – Guidelines for the implementation of a management system for Social Responsibility, published in the Official Gazette of the Federation on March 1st, 2005, was repealed.

The NMX-IMNC-26000 was issued by the Mexican Standarization and Certification Association A.C. who adopted the International Standard ISO 26000: 2010 - Guidance on Social Responsibility developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The preparation of the International Standard ISO 26000: 2010 by the ISO Working Group on Social Responsibility  took almost 6 years in order to reach a broad consent at a global level.

The purpose of the NMX-IMNC-26000 is to provide guidance to organizations on various topics on Social Responsibility ("SR"). It is  understood as the responsibility of an organization for the consequences of its decisions and activities on society and the environment, through transparent and ethical behavior that mainly contributes to sustainable development, including health and the welfare of society.

The NMX-IMNC-26000 is a voluntary guideline which expects through the SR to offer potential benefits for organizations such as: promote decision making based on a better understanding of the expectations of society; improve management of labor risks; increasing reputation, competitiveness and competitive advantage; generate innovation, maintain or increase motivation, commitment, involvement, loyalty and employee productivity; improve the perception and relationship with concerned parties, among many other benefits.

This standard is not intended for certification purposes, it is only for orientation merely providing advice on all kinds of private sector, public and non-profit organizations, regardless of size and location of operation.

Under the NMX-IMNC-26000, an organization should address the following fundamental subjects: governance, human rights, labor practices, environment, fair operating practices, consumer issues and active participation and community development, to define the scope of its social responsibility, to identify relevant issues and to establish priorities.

The NMX-IMNC-26000 includes seven different chapters and two appendices, which are detailed herein:

I.            Purpose and scope of the standard, as well as the identification of limits and exclusions.

II.            Terms and definitions of key terms that are of primary importance to understanding the SR and the use of the standard.

III.            Understanding the SR, describes the important factors and conditions that have influenced on the development of the SR and continue to affect its nature and practice, also describes the concept of SR, what it means and how it applies in organizations. It also includes a guidance for small and medium organizations on the use of this standard.

IV.            Principles of SR, which details the ethical principles of:

a)            Accountability;

b)            Transparency;

c)            Ethical behavior;

d)            Respect for stakeholders interests;

e)            Respect for the Rule of Law;

f)            Respect for International Regulations of behavior; and

g)            Respect for human rights.

V.            Recognizing the SR and engaging with stakeholders, it provides a guidance on the relationship between an organization, its stakeholders and society on the recognition of the core subjects and issues of SR and the influence of an organization.

VI.            Guidance on SR core subjects, it  explains the fundamental issues related to SR and its associated matters. For each core subject it provides information about its scope, relationship with SR, principles, considerations, actions and related expectations. These in order to define the scope of the SR in its organization, identify the relevant matters, set priorities, make decisions, improve practices and generate innovation to improve competitiveness.

VII.            Guidance on integrating SR throughout an organization, it provides a guidance on understanding the SR, the integration of SR throughout the organization, communication of the SR, increasing the credibility of an organization regarding SR; reviewing progress and improving the performance and evaluating voluntary initiatives for SR.

We highly recommend familiarizing yourself with this standard, whether your organization currently has or not implemented practices of SR. In the first case, it can be used as reference for improving existing practices and in the second case, the standard constitutes a fundamental guide to start the process of adoption the SR.

This standard can be purchased in the Instituto Mexicano de Normalización, A.C. residing at Manuel Maria Contreras No. 133, 6th floor, Colonia Cuauhtemoc, ZIP code 06500, Federal District, Mexico, phone 5546-4446. The NMX-IMNC-26000 is priced at $ 780.00 Mexican pesos.