Safety
Customers currently demand that companies be held accountable for the sourcing of the products they sell. Since we are living in an age of transparent communication, and since we have full confidence in our operations, we have kept a step ahead of issues that concern our customers by executing several agreements with the Secretary of Health in Mexico:
- Agreement for the timely detection of clenbuterol in meat. We committed to participating in a program that entails consistent monitoring of meat products.
- Agreement to deliver medication in case of an emergency, so that our pharmacies can function as fast, timely, and free distribution channels for medication against influenza.
In addition to the agreements above, a health promotion agreement was executed with the Federal Commission for the Protection Against Health Risks (Cofepris, per its acronym in Spanish) to govern Pharmacy operations and the adjacent physician’s office.
In Mexico, we work hand in hand with the Consumer Protection Agency (Profeco, per its acronym in Spanish), in charge of taking care of consumers’ interests, and have become the only self-service company that has executed the following:
- A cooperation agreement was signed since 2013 to implement better business practices in our stores for customers to be able to buy safe products that won’t pose any risks to their safety, health or even life.
- An agreement to cooperate with Concilianet [a conciliation institution] was signed since 2012 to set up the basis for the use of this institution’s internet site. We agreed to receive all citations and information stemming from conciliation proceedings, via our e-mail address.
We have a global program in place that entails having independent third-party auditors validate our compliance with labor, safety and environment standards, pursuant to local legislation. The program includes subject matter experts who will classify factories as per risks found during audits. There are 4 kinds of classifications, with differing frequency for a second audit to be scheduled, depending on the risks involved in each of them:
Adherence to quality and compliance standards for the products that we sell our customers is ensured by checking the safety, the source of the supplies, and compliance with the law.
We also verify that absolutely all suppliers for our private label products and internal supplies for our stores, and their production centers have timely audits regarding the following items:
- Good manufacturing practices
- Quality systems
- Process controls
- Training
- Pest control
- Facilities
- Risk analysis and control of critical points
Moreover, we created the Consumer Protection and Privacy areas, reporting to the Vice President for Compliance, who must design related policies, procedures, and programs to be in compliance with the law. Each area in the company has a Privacy Ambassador in charge of defining its action plans.
