(AIAG: Southfield, MI) -- October’s upcoming release of revisions to the automotive industry’s most widely used international standard for quality management will include language on corporate ethics for the first time in its history. The standard—previously named ISO/TS 16949—is replaced by IATF 16949 and has been revised by the International Automotive Task Force (IATF) with an unprecedented level of industry feedback and engagement.

“This is the first time that ethics language has been included in an automotive quality standard,” says Tanya Bolden, director of corporate responsibility products and services for the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG). “It’s significant because it gives us an opportunity to verify where the supply base stands on several core ethics policies.”

The new IATF 16949 standard states that certified organizations must implement basic corporate responsibility policies such as an anti-bribery policy, employee code of conduct, and an ethics escalation (whistleblower) policy.

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