MTANZ welcomes APEC guidance for ethical third-party relationships and progress toward Vietnam Code of Ethics
Hanoi, Vietnam – Faye Sumner, CEO of the Medical Technology Association of New Zealand, the only national industry body representing medical technology companies in NZ says her organisation welcomes APEC
guidance for ethical third-party intermediary relationships in the medtech sector.
Ms Sumner’s comments came at the conclusion of the 2017 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Business Ethics for
Small and Medium-Sized Companies Forum on September 7-8 in Hanoi, Vietnam. The Forum convened leaders of over 200
public, private and civil society organizations.
“Such guidance will help to ensure that third parties – including distributors, wholesalers, distribution or sales
agents, marketing agents or consultants, and others who are critical to the medtech sector and health systems – can
strengthen adherence to high-standard ethical business practices. These practices are in accordance with the APEC Kuala Lumpur Principles for Medical Device Sector Codes of Business Ethics. MTANZ was a member of the Expert Working Group which developed these principles in 2011.
“Ethical principles that guide medtech industry interactions with healthcare providers are critical to ensuring patient
access to life-saving innovations and integrity in the medical decision-making process. Joint work between multinational
medical device companies and third parties to develop ethical business practices will strengthen health systems and
instil patient confidence that the best treatments are available when needed and delivered in their interest.
“Since 2010, MTANZ has been honoured to help advance the APEC Business Ethics Initiative. Together with our many
partners, including the U.S. Department of Commerce, we are developing and facilitating propagation of high-standard
codes of ethics, which now extend to 26 device and diagnostic industry associations across 19 economies in this
important region. These new codes collectively represent higher standards of ethics being applied to nearly 13,000
enterprises, nearly 11,000 of which are small and medium-sized companies.
“Improving ethical business practices – through development and implementation of high-standard codes of ethics and
public-private partnerships, is vital to MTANZ medtech enterprises that seek a fair, competitive environment. This is
particularly important to small- and medium-sized companies which make up the majority of our member companies.”
MTANZ continues to work as a mentor to the APEC economies because ethical business practices are vital to assist trade
between New Zealand and the Asia-Pacific region.
ENDS