APEE - Associação Portuguesa de Ética Empresarial (Portuguese Association of Business Ethics)

APEE is a non-profit organisation governed by private law. It was funded in 2002 by a group of business professionals and managers in order to promote the development of ethical values in organizations, by incorporating it in their internal managerial practices and in the interaction with the external environment. Corporate social responsibility is seen as an outcome of the practical implementation of ethical values in organizations. It is also the body for the standardization of ethical values and social responsibility – a status attributed by the IPQ (The Portuguese Institute for Quality). Under this scope, It has been developing national standards in this specific area and assured the Portuguese participation in the development process of ISO 26000. It has also been coordinating the Technical Commission 179, which developed the project – The normative guide for family-responsible organizations.