Business principles

Greetings from the Managing Director: Responsible public procurement

As a central purchasing body, our activities are strongly based on trust. Our clients rely on our expertise and our ability to deliver quality products and services on favourable terms. Our suppliers expect us to be fair and equitable, while citizens expect us to spend their tax money wisely. It is very important for us to always act ethically and comply with requirements. That is why we have drawn up the following business principles, which also explain our approach to our partners. We also base our daily work on our values. I hope you will familiarise yourself with these principles when you work with people from Hansel. We want to be a trusted partner to all our stakeholders.

Best wishes,

Anssi Pihkala
Managing Director

Hansel as a partner

Communication, publicity and confidentiality

Our business is transparent and we communicate openly on matters related to our activities. However, to ensure the commercial success and non-discriminatory implementation of tenders, we keep tender-related matters confidential during the tendering process and only disclose information to tenderers in accordance with controlled practices. We follow guidelines for the disclosure of documents, taking into account the protection of our own and our suppliers’ business secrets.

Our employees must not use information obtained in the course of their work for personal gain. Passing on such information is also prohibited. We protect our suppliers’ and customers’ business secrets.

Management of situations involving disqualification

To manage conflicts of interest, we instruct our employees to identify situations related to competitions when they or someone else needs to be disqualified. Persons who should be disqualified are not involved in Hansel’s tendering procedures. We also take into account, where applicable, the recommendations and guidelines issued for the government and local government sectors for ethical and compliance issues.

Situations of disqualification may also arise in recruitment when an employee transfers from the employment of a supplier to Hansel. We adhere to the principle that employees must not be tasked with any assignments related to their previous employer, their partners or competitors, immediately after assuming their new position.

Cooperation with stakeholders

The nature of our activities as a central purchasing body requires active communication with our clients and suppliers. We also welcome the opportunity for our various stakeholders to benefit from our expertise. For example, our experts regularly give lectures at events organised by our stakeholders. 

However, the nature of our work means that there is a need for clear rules for our cooperation with customers, suppliers and other stakeholders. When organising and attending events, and in providing hospitality and small gifts, we respect the ethics and principles of public service that are generally accepted within public administration. In our tendering procedures for public procurement, the principles of transparency and equal treatment are emphasised.

It is important to us that Hansel is perceived as a trustworthy player and that our actions are impartial for our clients, suppliers, stakeholders and all citizens.

All forms of inappropriate influence are prohibited

We are committed to acting in a transparent and trustworthy manner. Corruption, bribery and other inappropriate influences on decision-making are strictly prohibited. Under no circumstances will our company accept the offer or receipt of bribes or other similar benefits or payments. Hansel requests that suppliers or stakeholders not give gifts to Hansel employees.

Ethical and trustworthy conduct requires that we refrain from any practice that compromises the impartiality of our activities or creates a perception of discriminatory or preferential practices.

Hansel as a social actor

Tackling infringements of competition law

In the context of our tendering procedures, we may encounter situations where infringements of competition law are indicated. These include prohibited bid-rigging, price-fixing, market sharing or abuse of dominant market positions by suppliers.

We take all types of infringements of competition law and related suspicions seriously. When we detect or suspect improper conduct by suppliers, we will contact the competition authorities as necessary to investigate and eradicate such conduct.

Client liability and combating the grey economy

We take financial responsibility and the fight against the grey economy into account in our activities. In the tendering procedures we carry out, we require that the participating suppliers fulfil their social obligations, such as the payment of taxes, and that their operations are on a sound financial basis. We apply the procedural obligations of the Act on Public Procurement and Concession Contracts in defining and verifying the suitability of suppliers by respecting exclusion criteria and checking the criminal record of the suppliers’ persons responsible, for example. During the agreement period, we monitor the solvency and compliance of our suppliers and their subcontractors and take appropriate action where necessary. For the above reasons, our joint procurement is marked with Hansel’s own financial responsibility label.

We also comply with the procedural guidelines for the fulfilment of our obligations under the Act on the Contractor’s Obligations and Liability when Work is Contracted Out. We carry out the controls laid down in the Act on the Contractor’s Obligations and Liability when Work is Contracted Out before the signature of framework agreements and during the agreement period. To combat the grey economy, some framework agreements also extend controls to subcontractors, although this is not required by the Act on the Contractor’s Obligations and Liability when Work is Contracted Out.

As a central purchasing body, we are also responsible for ensuring compliance with the obligations laid down in the Act on the Contractor’s Obligations and Liability when Work is Contracted Out on behalf of our clients, where centralised ensuring of compliance is of significant benefit to our clients.

Hansel may terminate a framework agreement if the monitoring service of Tilaajavastuu Oy or reports provided by the contractor show that the contractor has failed to comply with its statutory obligations or if no reports are received and the contractor does not remedy the situation.

Taking social aspects into account

We actively identify social responsibility risk factors in various sectors and seek to identify types of procurement where social responsibility issues such as labour and human rights violations could occur. Where possible, we take social considerations into account in joint procurement. For example, we address social considerations through the criteria we set for tenderers and the object of the procurement, the terms and conditions of the agreements, and through monitoring compliance with those terms and conditions. Joint procurement decisions where social responsibility is taken into account are awarded the Hansel social responsibility label.

Taking environmental considerations into account

Hansel wants to lead the way in promoting environmental issues and sustainable development in public procurement. Environmental considerations are taken into account in procurement planning and carefully considered for each procurement. For example, we take environmental considerations into account in the definition of the need and requirements for each procurement process, the requirements for tenderers and the object of the procurement, as well as in the terms and conditions of the agreement and their monitoring. Joint procurement decisions where environmental considerations have been taken into account are awarded the Hansel environmental label.

Innovation in procurement

Increasing attention is being paid to promoting innovation in public procurement. We strive to meet these expectations and continuously develop our expertise in innovative procurement. Our aim is to increase innovation in joint procurement and to encourage our clients to take a new approach to their own procurement where the object matter of the procurement allows an innovative approach. Joint procurement decisions that meet the criteria for innovative procurement are awarded the Hansel innovative procurement label.

Reporting irregularities

It is important to our company that our activities are perceived as reliable and ethical. We actively monitor the quality of our own operations and listen to feedback from our clients, suppliers and stakeholders.

Hansel has a dedicated compliance team to promote ethical and compliant behaviour in our company. Among other things, the team maintains and coordinates a code of conduct for ethics and business and trains personnel.

You can email the team at compliance@hansel.fi.