Code of Conduct and Business Ethics
Version 1.0 – November 2015
Introduction
Pesca’s Code of Conduct and Business Ethics presents the directives in relation to business practices
and posture for the company and the people that work for it. These directives are fundamental for
the company’s vision of the future, its mission and its values.
In order to fulfill our vision of “transforming cattle ranching in the Amazon”, it is essential that we
remain truly in line with the values of knowledge, transparency, environmental conservation and
production excellence, in addition to being in strict compliance with all the legal requirements
applicable to our business. These principles are the basis of our Code of Conduct and Ethics and
must be followed in all of our actions and in each one of the decisions made by each one of us with
the aim of achieving long term business success and the accomplishment of our mission.
The values must be transformed into concrete ways of doing business. We want to establish a
productive and healthy working environment for our staff as well as maintain a relationship of trust,
transparency and longevity with our clients and partners, suppliers, financers and investors. This
way, we will together be able to achieve success and effectively promote Sustainable Cattle
Ranching in the Amazon.
Vando Telles de Oliveira
Executive Director
Business Purpose and Values
Pecsa has the vision of “transforming cattle ranching in the Amazon into a real sustainable,
productive and profitable business which strengthens the local economy and preserves the forests
the soil and the water".
To fulfill this aim, we have taken on the mission of "enabling cattle ranchers in the Amazon to access
technology, investments and markets for sustainable production.”
The company’s mission is permeated by the following values:
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Knowledge: sharing information and planning together with producers, training the
workforce and maximizing their skills;
Transparency: promoting animal traceability and monitoring results, providing information
to farmers, investors, buyers and society;
Environmental conservation: guaranteeing a deforestation-free supply chain, complying
with environmental regulations, conserving and restoring soils, water and forests and
reducing the greenhouse gases emissions.
Production excellence: optimizing production in areas already deforested, performing
integrated management of the farms as a business focused on economic return and quality,
providing technology compatible with each production system.
Together with these values, Pecsa is fully committed to complying with the legislation in all its
operational aspects and does not participate in or get involved with any kind of illegal activities.
Staff
Pecsa understands that a productive working environment which is healthy and safe is built on a
respectful relationship between people. Therefore, the company promotes full application of the
labor laws as well as encourages respect for individual rights and dignified treatment of its staff.
We seek to offer opportunities for professional and personal development for all and we repudiate
any form of discrimination.
Within 9 months, Pecsa will develop a human resources policy detailing these aspects and
establishing a collective convention, the procedures to ensure the safety of workers involved in
field operations, the additional benefits to be offered to staff as well as a grievance mechanism.
All staff will have access to the content of and updates to this Code and should always comply with
the directives.
In the case of a member of staff being exposed to illegal activities, such as, for example, a request
or offer for kickbacks or bribes, they should immediately refuse such requests and inform the
company’s directors.
Any offers of gifts from suppliers, service providers, clients or of any partner should be seen in an
impartial light and must not interfere in the objective relationship with the gift provider. In such
cases, the staff member must inform the company’s directors. Gifts may only be accepted if the
value does not exceed the value of gifts that Pecsa itself offers to its commercial partners and it is
expressly forbidden to receive any monetary gifts.
In the fulfilment of their tasks, staff should seek to strictly comply with the applicable legislation
and rules. Regarding the environment, staff must also uphold the prohibition of wild animal hunting
and the killing of predators such as jaguars and others.
Clients and Partners
The activities performed with partner producers are based on the construction of a relationship of
trust aiming to establish long term partnerships that generate mutual benefits for the company and
the producer. Other essential characteristics of the relationship between Pecsa and the partner
producers are:
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transparency and accountability in relation to investments and results,
sharing knowledge with producers and the farm workers, and
a commitment to never compromise the producer’s assets, be it land, cattle or machinery,
when setting out the contracts for rural partnership or renting.
Pecsa will only enter into partnership with farms that meet the minimum requirements of the
environmental and labor legislations – that is, that they are registered in the Cadastro Ambiental
Rural (Rural Environment Registry), do not have any embargos in place due to illegal deforestation
and are not on the Labor Ministry’s list of slave-like labor.
In the ambit of processing, consumer or distributing meat companies, Pecsa will seek to establish
a long term commercial relationship always aiming to ensure the quality of the product and its
sustainable origin.
Financers and Investors
Pecsa seeks financers and/or investors who have the same aim as the company to generate both
financial returns and positive socio-environmental impacts by transforming cattle ranching in the
Amazon.
In its relationship with financers and/or investors, Pecsa is committed to ensuring a full
transparency of information in relation to its economic and financial performance and the socioenvironmental impacts of its activities, applying best practices for communication with financers
and investors. This includes the commitment to providing precise and accurate information by all
that are entrusted with this, specifically:
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The production of financial reports following international standards as well as having
external audits to ensure the good repute of Pecsa’s internal controls;
Sharing of operational and financial information about business progress in the adequate
form and regularity required for decision making;
Sharing information about the company’s compliance with sustainable production
standards as well as the socio-environmental impacts of its activities.
Suppliers and Service Providers
Pecsa works towards the construction of long term relationships of trust and collaboration with
suppliers and service providers with the aim of continuously improving quality, reducing costs and
ensuring the sustainable origin of the products. In relation to the latter, Pecsa will develop, within
4 months, a set of procedures that aim to ensure the absence of deforestation in its supply chain in
relation to animal acquisition and the main inputs for the production of feed, to be implemented
over the subsequent 12 months.
Pecsa conducts its relationship with its suppliers and service providers in an objective and impartial
way, and always makes a selection based on the best cost-benefit for the company, its clients and
partners. In this way, the company does not accept or offer any kind of favors that might interfere
in the relationship and decision taking with its suppliers and service providers.
Society, environment and community
Pecsa has a commitment to not generate negative impacts to the environment and to fully comply
with the environmental legislation. The company will not get involved in activities that may result
in deforestation or other damage to natural resources or that might affect Conservation Units or
Indigenous Land or the populations that live there. The company will also seek to minimize such
damage within its supply chain.
Pecsa is committed to carrying out soil management and exploiting the cattle ranching activities
within veterinarian and zoo-technical recommendations , in compliance with the federal, state and
municipal environmental laws, rules and regulations and prohibits the use of agrochemicals that
are not authorized by the Ministry of Agriculture.
It is also committed to applying the directives of Good Agricultural Practices for Cattle Ranching set
out by Embrapa, and the Guide of Indicators to Sustainable Cattle Ranching of the GTPS, as well as
to monitoring and reporting on the fulfilment of these good practices.
The company is also committed to respecting, inspecting and fulfilling the laws, rules and directives
established in the country, especially for the protection of forest, water, fauna, environment
reserves and the prohibition of slave labor and use/production of illegal labor, land invasions, fires
by burning, among others. It will periodically perform independent verification of the risks and
possible negative impacts of its activities.
As well as this, Pecsa aims to generate positive impacts for the environment and for society. In this
sense, it will promote the recovery of river sources and riparian forests and the adoption of
practices that ensure the conservation of the soil, water and forests and the reduction of
greenhouse gas emissions. The company will also seek to contribute to the local sustainable
development through its activities. It will perform systematic monitoring of these positive impacts,
sharing the results in its annual activity reports and on appropriate occasions with its stakeholders.
In this way, Pecsa will always seek to offer society a product of quality and with the guarantee of
sustainable origin.
Implementation, monitoring and review
This Pecsa Code of Conduct and Business Ethics will be communicated and must be strictly adhered
by all the company’s staff members.
It will be made available on the Pecsa web page and presented to all new staff members who will
receive specific training about it within three months of being hired.
The fulfilment of the Code will be monitored by the Governance Department and reported on
annually to the Board of Directors and may be reviewed or altered on this occasion.
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