About AESAS
AESAS - Associação Brasileira das Empresas de Consultoria e Engenharia Ambiental (Brazilian Association of Consulting Companies and Environmental Engineering) was founded on April 18, 2002, by twelve companies located in the State of São Paulo and currently, it counts on more than 70 company members.
The Association is working for the consolidation and strengthening of the segment, acting in an effective manner through partnerships with environmental agencies, governmental entities, industries and universities.
The Entity holds monthly meetings with its members aimed at the exchange of experiences and establishing position of the segment in subjects such as: performance of environmental agencies and Department of Justice, ethics of the sector's companies and foreign consultants in the country, besides accreditation of supporting companies to the sector (survey, laboratories and equipment). Furthermore, it provides courses, lectures and workshops.
The directors board and associated, composed by a multidisciplinary and highly qualified technical staff, meet monthly to discuss, exchange experiences and form opinions on various topics in the environmental market. These topics cover:
• environmental standardization;
• acting on environmental agencies and other public institutions;
• ethics of companies in the sector;
• performance of foreign companies and consultants in the country;
• market aspects, accreditation of companies to support the sector (survey, laboratories and equipment),
• among other subjects.
Goals
AESAS has as its mission to represent all sector's companies which work with evident competence and ethics.
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Assemble companies that carry out activities in the area of consultancy and service rendering for studies of evaluation of environmental liabilities, investigation and remediation of soils and groundwater, enrolled in some Class Council;
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Disseminate knowledge of new technologies in the area related to research and remediation of soils and groundwater;
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Act strictly in accordance with technical guidelines and industry legislation;
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To develop among its associates the spirit of fair competition, ethics and frank and effective cooperation, taking into account the public interest and the progress of the country;
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On behalf of its members, to manifest itself in the area of action and of specific interest;
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When it is in their interest, to make available to the public authorities, to the Union, to the States and Municipalities, and of the respective autarchic entities, of mixed-capital companies, of associations of class and private companies in general, the specialized knowledge and experience of its members in the benefit of the study, evaluating and troubleshooting of problems related to its area of operation;
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To supervise the companies that act in service to the sector.
This is a list of conduct of business rules which should be followed by member companies, under the penalty of statutory disciplinary actions. The elaboration of this document counted on the participation of a multidisciplinary team of professionals, most of them non-members. With this initiative, AESAS intends to adopt a proactive stance towards disciplining the actuation of the member companies according to ethical standards whose function is fundamental in the development of business in the modern society, in the assurance of the quality of services and in the preservation of the environment. Approved in 3 December, 2003, in General Meeting of Members.
WHEN CONDUCTING ITS ACTIVITIES, THE DUTIES OF THE COMPANY ARE AS FOLLOWS
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Meet the Brazilian legislation.
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The consultancy should meet the standards and principles contained in the national legal system.
WHEN OFFERING AND RENDERING SERVICES
Offer or render services under the responsibility of professionals duly qualified and/or regulated.
The members without professionals in charge which do not have registry or other supporting document/proof of professional qualification for execution of the activity may not render services to the members. The same is applied to foreign professionals.
Recommend to the client procedures and equipment specified or standardized by bodies in charge when representing the best technical choice and/or legal obligation.
The procedures specified by environmental agencies shall be used when they represent a legal obligation. In case the consultancy defines that the legal obligation does not represent the best technical choice, it should recommend to the client the negotiation with environmental agencies so as to get technical consensus concerning the procedure chosen.
When it is not a legal obligation, the consultancy shall identify the existing procedures for the achievement of the work and recommend to the client the most technically adequate procedure. In the case of the procedure chosen is not specified by environmental agencies, the consultancy shall recommend to the client through common agreement with the agency in charge regarding the adoption of the procedure.
The same is applied to equipment standardized by agencies in charge.
Refuse the participation of the client regarding the specifications when rendering the service, in case they are improper or unfeasible.
The client's order for utilization of certain technical procedures, human and material resources and terms shall not overlap the technical responsibility of the consultancy.
IN RELATION WITH CLIENTS
Inform the client about the potential results and consequences of the provision of service.
In the proposal of work, when describing the potential results derived from its conduction to the client, the consultancy shall not overestimate the probable results or omit the potential risks.
The consultancy shall not render services whose activities are not proved technically or scientifically, except in case of formal consent of the client.
Do not omit or change relevant results and information in the report, aiming at your own benefit or the client's benefit.
The consultancy shall preserve its technical independence by reporting the actual results or the work in a report.
In case of the discovery of evidences of high risk to environment or to human health, protect the professional secrecy, but recommend explicitly to client the communication of such facts to the bodies concerned;
The discovery of contamination, or activities involving potential risk to the environment or to human being, shall be documented in a report. The consultancy shall recommend to the client the communication of such evidences to the competent bodies and alert him in a clear and unambiguous way regarding the urgency of the measures required for mitigation and/or resolution of the problem. In case the client does not meet the repeated documented recommendations, the provision of service shall be suspended until the client adopts the measures required for the minimization of environmental risks or to the human health.
SETTLEMENT OF CONFLICTS (CONFLICT CHECKING)
When there is potential conflict in the provision of services for two companies, the consultancy shall, whenever possible, check the perception of the conflict for both companies;
Under the hypothesis of potential conflict in the provision of services for two competing companies (clients), the consultancy shall act in a transparent manner, questioning respectively the company that is already a company and the company (new client) that required consultancy services concerning the perception of any type of conflict related to provision of services by consultancy company for both companies.
In case the procedure is not possible, the decision to render the service or not shall be exclusive of the consultancy.
The consultancy shall not render services simultaneously for companies (seller and buyer) involved in commercial transactions.
UNFAIR COMPETITION OR PREJUDICE TO THE COMPETITION
Do not use practices which characterize the unfair competition or impair the competition;
The consultancy shall not practice any acts involving unfair competition or that cause prejudice to the free competition, such as:
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To disclose false or unfounded information on the client or competitor;To get information on the competitor in an unlawful manner;
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To combine prices or sales conditions aiming at the market dominance;To make the operation or establishment of new companies difficult;
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To charge predatory (dumping) or exorbitant prices.
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Not use inappropriate influence for its benefit or for the benefit of the client.
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The consultancy shall not use illegal mechanisms to get advantages or use, disclose or confidential publish information to the client, without his express consent.
RELATIONS WITH INTERNAL PUBLIC
Care for the occupational health and safety of persons involved;
When rendering services that involve operating activities whose risk is known, the consultancy shall establish a specific procedure of occupational health and safety.
RELATIONS WITH THE OTHER PARTIES CONCERNED (STAKEHOLDERS)
Follow the principles proposed to the other parties concerned (stakeholders).
The principles of lawfulness, ethics, professionalism, technical responsibility, prevention, precaution and transparency shall be also followed to:
- Public agencies;
- Universities;
- Class associations;
- Communities;
- Non-governmental organizations;
- Suppliers;
- Lawyers.
FINAL PROVISIONS
The cases which are not addressed will be discussed in AESAS General Meeting, according to Articles of Incorporation and with principles that guide such Guidelines.
Code of Ethics
Activities
Among the actions implemented by AESAS we can highlight:
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Dissemination, together with its members, of information on the provision services in the diagnosis and remediation of soils and groundwater, including legal and ethical aspects;
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Promote of meetings to discuss topics related to the sector;
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Establishment of conventions for purposes of class, an aim to deal with matters of common interest; Promotion, individually or jointly, with the government and related entities, of activities for technological development and human resources;
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Representation in Environmental Agencies and other regulatory and regulating agencies in order to influence the elaboration of the country's environmental policy;
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Collaboration with governmental authorities, public and private entities, trade unions and associations related to the sector, as an advisory body, in the analysis of issues related to its segment objectives.
Directors Board - 2020 - 2022
President:
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Thiago L. Gomes – Doxor Soluções Ambientais
Vice-President:
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Sérgio Rameh – Grupo EPA
Secretary:
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Pedro Dib – Sanifox do Brasil
Treasurer:
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Rivaldo França Mello - Geo Consultoria Ambiental
Counselor:
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Ana Paula Queiroz - Waterloo Brasil
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Giovanna Setti - Waterloo Brasil
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Juliana Pistoni - Merieux NutriSciences
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Maurício Prado Alves - Servmar
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Sérgio Pascoal - Conan Consultoria Ambiental Ltda
Quality Manager:
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Monica Betterelli - Antea Group
Technical Manager:
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Erika von Zuben - Hera Consultoria
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Paulo Santos - ERM Brasil