A Global Strategy for Process Security
Over and above corporate governance, a global strategy for process security has been implemented within SAGESS to manage the risks inherent to its line of business.
SAGESS is subject to European and French legislation with respect to the volumes of strategic stocks of petroleum products that must be constituted, and has been mandated as such by the CPSSP to fulfil those duties as a public service. The articles of association of SAGESS and the terms of the mandate linking SAGESS to the CPSSP precisely describe the duties of the key stakeholders, thus ensuring the principles of financial and economic stability for the management of strategic oil stocks in France.
The procurement process is also subject to wide-ranging security measures. Purchases are systematically carried out by means of highly regulated call for tenders, the bids being opened in the presence of witnesses.Storage costs, calculated on the basis of a fee schedule are framed by a logistic general policy approved by a vote of the SAGESS Board of Directors. They are also subject to monitoring and regular reporting to the Board of Directors. Finally, specific contracts are subject to regulated agreements, involving in particular a vote of the Board of Directors in the case of major storage contracts.For these various reasons, the risk of corruption is relatively immaterial as far as SAGESS is concerned.
Finally, a code of conduct was first introduced at SAGESS as early as 1988, in the form of a single booklet compiling the company’s key values and policies. Designed for all SAGESS employees, the guide covers topics such as business ethics, relationships with third parties, health / safety / environment, as well as employment and working conditions:
The guide is regularly updated; the latest took place in April 2019 in order to detail the policy on money laundering.
The Code of Conduct is distributed both internally to all SAGESS employees and outside the company: when signing new storage contracts, the code of conduct is distributed to all the operators of oil depots where SAGESS stores petroleum products.Finally, the guide is also systematically communicated to all the bidders in tenders by SAGESS.
