The company bases its business actions and decisions on generally applicable ethical values, in particular integrity, credibility and respect for human dignity. It promotes transparency, responsible management and control within the company in an appropriate manner. The company undertakes to fulfill applicable requirements within the scope of its activities for the purpose of increasing customer satisfaction as well as to comply with its binding obligations and to continuously improve its management system.

The Code of Conduct sets out binding rules that must be observed by every person employed by the company. In particular, the management and all executives are responsible for the active implementation of this Code of Conduct. They must act as role models in every respect. The Code is the basis and guideline for overcoming ethical and legal challenges in day-to-day work. Every employee can approach their superiors or the management with questions and comments in this regard.

The company expects its suppliers to comply with the guiding values of the Code of Conduct, supports them in this to the best of its ability and encourages them to do the same in their supply chains.

The company observes the laws and other legal provisions of the countries in which it operates. This also expressly applies to the provisions of national, European and international chemicals legislation as well as embargo, customs and export control regulations.

The company respects the rules of fair and open competition and does not enter into any agreements that influence competition in an impermissible manner.

Employees of the company are obliged to comply with the rules of fair competition. In particular, any agreement or concerted practice with competitors on the following topics is prohibited:
- Prices and price components
- conditions
- customers
- Delivery areas
- quotas and capacities
- Agreed market exits
- Coordination on planned innovations
- boycotts
If a contract is awarded on the basis of a formal invitation to tender, the company will neither discuss nor coordinate offers with other bidders. This applies to both public and restricted tenders and is independent of whether it is a public or private procurement procedure.

The company expressly opposes all forms of corruption in Germany and abroad and avoids even the appearance of attempting to influence business decisions through unfair business practices.
Employees may not exploit the company's business connections for their own benefit or that of others or to the detriment of the company. In particular, this means that employees must not grant or accept any unauthorized private benefits (e.g. money, material assets, services) in business dealings that are likely to influence a proper decision.
All employees of the company are obliged to seek advice or assistance in the event of suspicions or legal doubts regarding the existence of corruption or white-collar crime. Advice and assistance is provided by the management.

Invitations, such as to business meals or events, which comply with recognized business practices and are appropriate, may be extended or accepted if they do not serve the purpose of undue preferential treatment. The same applies to the acceptance or granting of gifts.
If there is any doubt as to the existence of an objective reason or the customary nature of a benefit, employees must consult the management in advance.

Benefits of any kind for persons with civil servant status and other public officials as well as to representatives of state institutions, including indirectly via third parties, are prohibited regardless of their value.

The commissioning of consultants, agents and other intermediaries may not be used to circumvent the ban on bribery.

Donations are only made on a voluntary basis and without any expectation of consideration. Donations and sponsoring activities must not be designed to covertly promote decisions in the interests of the company.
The donation must be transparent. The recipients of the donation and the specific use by the recipients must be known. It must be possible to account for the reason for the donation and the intended use at any time.
Remuneration similar to donations must be avoided. Remuneration similar to donations are benefits that only appear to be granted as remuneration for a service, but whose value significantly exceeds the value of the service.

The company does not tolerate money laundering. All employees are obliged to strictly comply with anti-money laundering laws. Furthermore, they must immediately report suspicious forms of payment or other transactions that indicate money laundering to the management.

The company prepares tax returns and declarations truthfully. All dutiable goods are properly cleared through customs by the company. The company consistently complies with the legal requirements for export control and customs in the areas of foreign trade and customs law and ensures their proper implementation.
The company expects its suppliers to provide export control and foreign trade data in a qualified and timely manner and to implement sufficient standards for security in the supply chain as part of global customs security programs.

The company expects loyalty from its employees. It ensures that its employees do not find themselves in situations in which their personal or financial interests conflict with those of the company or its business partners.
Employees of the company must immediately report any personal interest that may exist in connection with their work to their superiors.

Employees of the company are prohibited from managing a company or working for a company that is in competition with the company.

The company's employees are obliged to maintain confidentiality regarding company and business secrets and other internal matters. This applies accordingly to information about contractual partners and customers that is not publicly accessible. The confidentiality obligation continues to apply after termination of the employment relationship.

In addition to the general confidentiality regulations (e.g. Section 17 UWG), data secrecy in accordance with the GDPR must be observed. In particular, it is prohibited to process, disclose, make accessible or otherwise use protected personal data without authorization for purposes other than the respective lawful performance of tasks. This obligation to maintain data secrecy continues to apply even after leaving the company.

All reports and other written documentation must be drawn up correctly and truthfully. This applies regardless of whether the reports are internal or external.
Data collection and other records must be based on the principles of proper accounting and must always be complete and correct.

Social responsibility is an indispensable component of value-oriented corporate management and a key factor for sustainable corporate success.

The company respects and supports internationally recognized human rights. In this context, we are also in constant dialog with our suppliers to ensure that our products do not contain raw materials from conflict regions.

The prohibition of child labor and forced labor in any form is observed.

Discrimination against employees and third parties in any form is not tolerated in our company. The company is expressly committed to a corporate culture based on tolerance, diversity and inclusion. Any discrimination or improper treatment of employees - especially in connection with sexual or verbal harassment - is consistently prevented and rigorously sanctioned.
The company takes care to ensure a fair and respectful working environment
The company proactively integrates these principles into its quality policy in order to ensure a fair, respectful and future-oriented working environment.

Occupational health and safety in the workplace is guaranteed within the framework of national regulations.

The company contributes to the social and economic development of the country and region in which it operates.

Quality is the foundation of our success. Our customers determine the quality of our products and services, which is why we always rely on excellently defined processes that form the basis for our work. Our aim is to deliver flawless products, with each individual employee bearing a decisive responsibility. By working together as a team, we strive to achieve our goals efficiently. Long-term partnerships with our stakeholders are important to us and are continuously cultivated.

The company produces products with a long service life that have as little impact on the environment as possible. Our devices actively contribute to environmental protection through a wide range of applications, such as research into fuel cells, testing technology for the safe reuse of PET bottles or the analysis of impurities in CO2 for the food and beverage industry.

V&F was founded in 1985 with environmental concerns in mind and has contributed to research and development in the automotive industry with the introduction of the catalytic converter and measurements in the automotive sector.

We save valuable resources through constantly optimized work processes and modern infrastructure. We are also researching possible substitutes for environmentally hazardous substances that are used during the life cycle of our appliances. Sustainable environmental and climate protection and resource efficiency are important corporate goals for us. Both in the development of new products and services and in the operation of production facilities, we ensure that all resulting effects on the environment and climate are kept to a minimum and that our product/service makes a positive contribution to environmental and climate protection for our customers.

We are constantly improving our processes and want to continue to develop in an environmentally friendly manner. We regularly evaluate the binding legal and official requirements and framework conditions and are committed to strict compliance with them.

Through our environmental policy, we also raise the awareness of our employees and work together actively on environmental protection and sustainability in everyday working life. The entire workforce has a responsibility to treat natural resources with care and to contribute to the protection of the environment and climate through their individual behavior.
At V&F, the commitment to environmental protection becomes a lived practice and a common goal.

The company familiarizes its employees with the content of this Code of Conduct and explains the obligations arising from it. The company communicates the principles of the Code of Conduct to its business partners.

The behavioral requirements set out in this Code of Conduct are binding for the company's employees and must therefore be complied with.
The company shall take all necessary steps to implement the basic values and requirements contained in this Code of Conduct through appropriate organizational measures as well as appropriate guidelines and processes in all business areas.

V&F Analyse und Messtechnik GmbH