Philips 2012 Annual Report Download - page 199

14 Sustainability statements 14.6 - 14.6
Annual Report 2012 199
14.6 Independent assurance report
To the Supervisory Board and Shareholders of Koninklijke Philips
Electronics N.V.:
We were engaged by the Supervisory Board of Koninklijke Philips
Electronics N.V. (further ‘Philips’) to provide assurance on the
information in the chapter Sustainability statements in the Annual
Report 2012 including the information referred to in the sections Social
performance and Environmental performance (further ‘The
Sustainability Information’). The Board of Management is responsible
for the preparation and fair presentation of The Sustainability
Information, including the identification of material issues. Our
responsibility is to issue an assurance report based on the engagement
outlined below.
Scope
Our assurance engagement was designed to provide reasonable
assurance on whether The Sustainability Information is presented fairly,
in all material respects, in accordance with the reporting criteria.
We do not provide any assurance on the achievability of the objectives,
targets and expectations of Philips.
Reporting criteria and assurance standard
Philips applies the Sustainability Reporting Guidelines G3.1 of the
Global Reporting Initiative supported by internally developed guidelines
as described in Approach to sustainability reporting in the chapter
Sustainability statements, of this Annual Report. It is important to view
the performance data in the context of this explanatory information.
We believe these criteria are suitable in view of the purpose of our
assurance engagement.
We conducted our engagement in accordance with the International
Standard for Assurance Engagement (ISAE 3000): Assurance
Engagement other than Audits or Reviews of Historical Financial
Information, issued by the International Auditing and Assurance
Standards Board. This standard requires, among others, that the
assurance team possesses the specific knowledge, skills and
professional competencies needed to provide assurance on
sustainability information, and that they comply with the requirements
of the Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants of the International
Federation of Accountants to ensure their independence.
Work undertaken
Our procedures included assessing the appropriateness of the
accounting policies used, evaluating the design and implementation, and
testing the operating effectiveness of the systems and processes for
collecting and processing the qualitative and quantitative information in
The Sustainability Information (including the implementation of these
at a number of sites), and evaluating the overall presentation of
sustainability information within our scope. Also we held interviews
with relevant management and evaluated documentation on a sample
basis to determine whether the information is supported by sufficient
evidence.
We have also reviewed, to the extent of our competence, whether the
information on sustainability in the rest of the Annual Report 2012 is
consistent with The Sustainability Information.
Opinion
In our opinion, The Sustainability Information is fairly presented, in all
material respects, in accordance with the reporting criteria.
We also report, to the extent of our competence, that the information
on sustainability in the rest of the Annual Report 2012 is consistent
with The Sustainability Information.
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
February 25, 2013
KPMG Accountants N.V.
J.F.C. van Everdingen RA