POSCO E&C Achieves First AAA Grade in Fair Trade Compliance Among Construction Companies

POSCO E&C announced on the 18th that it received the highest grade of 'AAA' in the 2023 Fair Trade Compliance Program (CP) evaluation, becoming the first construction company to achieve this top rating.

Kang Ki-jung, Chairman of the Fair Trade Commission (left), and Kim Sung-joon, Head of Legal Affairs at POSCO E&C, are posing for a commemorative photo at the "2023 Fair Trade Compliance Program (CP) Forum and Excellent Company Award Ceremony" held on the 14th. / Photo by POSCO E&C

The CP is a voluntary compliance system introduced by the Fair Trade Commission in 2006 to enable companies to independently comply with fair trade-related laws. The Fair Trade Commission grants ratings to companies that apply for evaluation one year after adopting the CP. The ratings are divided into six levels (D, C, B, A, AA, AAA) and assess factors such as the establishment of CP operation policies, support from top management, fair trade education and training, and pre-monitoring systems. Recently, it has emerged as one of the key indicators in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) management evaluations.

Since POSCO E&C first introduced the CP in the industry in 2003, it has been highly evaluated for the CEO’s strong commitment to CP implementation and active leadership in spreading CP culture, as well as for systematically operating personnel sanctions and incentive systems and the Compliance Council.

In particular, to prevent dispute risks, POSCO E&C established an online issuance system for all documents stipulated by the Subcontracting Act starting in 2019 and made it mandatory from 2022. Using the fair trade compliance monitoring system, it conducts pre-risk inspections and has strengthened on-site inspections and training compared to the previous year. Additionally, to enhance legal response synergy, the company placed a Legal Affairs Office directly under the CEO this year and appointed the head of the Legal Affairs Office as the Compliance Manager.

By obtaining the AAA rating this time, POSCO E&C will receive incentives from the Fair Trade Commission, including a two-year exemption from on-site investigations, exemption from public disclosure orders for habitual violators, and a two-point reduction in penalty points under the Subcontracting Act.

A POSCO E&C official emphasized, "Based on the corporate citizenship philosophy, all employees continuously promote CP activities, and we plan to continue striving to be a model for win-win cooperation between large and small-medium enterprises."

Meanwhile, all 10 POSCO Group companies that participated in this year’s CP evaluation received excellent grades or higher, setting a record for the most excellent grades obtained by a single corporate group since the system’s introduction.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.