Vendor Relations: New York/New Jersey

 

The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey is introducing a new code of ethics for its vendors, contractors and consultants as part of a comprehensive integrity program adopted by the agency’s board of commissioners in September. 

 

More than 34,000 vendors, contractors and consultants are registered to do business with the bi-state agency.

 

The program is designed to ensure the highest level of integrity and accountability by port authority employees and those hired for any work done on behalf of the port authority. The new code requires vendors – including any entity supplying goods and services to the port authority – consultants and contractors to certify compliance with the code. 

The code requires that vendors, contractors and consultants adhere to guidelines in the performance of port authority work, including: maintenance of accurate books and records; honest reporting; compliance with the port authority’s Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) and Disadvantaged Business (DBE) programs; a zero-tolerance policy toward offering gifts to port authority employees, and adherence to Fair Employment standards. The code also requires vendors to confirm that the employment of former port authority employees would not violate that employee’s post-employment ethical obligations.

 

The code also limits the use and dissemination of confidential information and port authority intellectual property, and imposes clear rules for responsible usage of and access to port authority information technology. Vendors, consultants and contractors will also be required to report misconduct or other violations of the code to the port authority’s Office of Inspector General.

 

"When vendors, contractors and consultants work with the Port Authority, they are working in service of the public," said Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton. "And just as we strive for the highest standards of ethical and legal compliance from ourselves, we require the same from the vendors we retain to help us meet the needs of the traveling public."