Philips 2013 Annual Report Download - page 212

13 Sustainability statements 13.4 - 13.4
212 Annual Report 2013
13.4 Independent assurance report
To the Supervisory Board and Shareholders of Koninklijke Philips N.V.:
We were engaged by the Supervisory Board of Koninklijke Philips N.V.
(further ‘Philips’) to provide assurance on the information in the chapter
Sustainability statements and the sections Social performance and
Environmental performance in the Annual Report 2013 (further ‘The
Sustainability Information’). The Board of Management is responsible for
the preparation 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 G4 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 these criteria.
We conducted our engagement in accordance with the Dutch Standard
3410N: Assurance engagements relating to sustainability reports and
which is a specific part of 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 performing a risk assessment (part of which was
a media search), assessing the appropriateness of the accounting policies
used, evaluating the design and implementation, and testing the
operating eectiveness 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 tested documentation on a sample basis to determine
whether the information is supported by sufficient evidence.
Additionally we determined, to the extent we can assess, whether the
information concerning sustainability in the other sections of the Annual
Report 2013 is consistent with the information in The Sustainability
Information.
Opinion
In our opinion, The Sustainability Information presents fairly, in all material
respects, the sustainability performance of Philips in accordance with the
reporting criteria.
We also report, to the extent we can assess, that the information on
sustainability in the rest of the Annual Report 2013 is consistent with
information in The Sustainability Information.
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
February 25, 2014
KPMG Accountants N.V.
J.F.C. van Everdingen RA