Southern Africa Development Community Secretariat – Procurement and Grants Policy (5) Civil servants or other officials of the public administration of any SADC country, regardless of their administrative situation, shall not be engaged as experts by bidders or contractors and/or neither are employed as individual consultants by the Procuring Entity or the SADC Secretariat. (6) The contractor shall at all times act impartially and as a faithful adviser in accordance with the code of conduct of his profession. He may not commit or compromise the Procuring Entity or the SADC Secretariat in any way without its prior and written consent. (7) For the duration of the contract, the contractor and his staff shall respect human rights and not offend the political, cultural and religious morals of the beneficiary state. In particular, the contractor shall respect labour standards as defined in the relevant International Labour Organization conventions (such as the Conventions on freedom of association and collective bargaining; Elimination of forced and compulsory labour; and Abolition of child labour). (8) The contractor will not accept any payment connected to the contract other than that provided for therein. The contractor and its staff shall not exercise any activity or receive any advantage inconsistent with their obligations to the Procuring Entity or the SADC Secretariat as laid down in their contract with the organization. (9) The contractor and its staff are bound to maintain confidentiality for the entire duration of the contract and after its completion. All reports and documents drawn up or received by the contractor during the performance of the contract are confidential and remain the property of the Procuring Entity. (10) The contractor shall refrain from any relationship likely to compromise his independence or of his staff. If the contractor ceases to be independent, the Procuring Entity or the SADC Secretariat may, regardless of any damage claims, terminate the contract without further notice and without the contractor having any right to claim for compensation. (11) All bidding documents and contracts for works, goods and services shall include a clause stipulating that bidders will be rejected or contracts terminated if it emerges that the award or execution of a contract has given rise to unusual commercial expenses. Such unusual commercial expenses are: (a) commissions not stated in the main contract or in the subcontracts stemming from the main contract; (b) commissions not paid in return for any actual and legitimate service; (c) commissions remitted to a tax haven; (d) commissions paid to a recipient who is not clearly identified; (e) commissions paid to a company having every appearance of being a “shell company”; or (f) commissions paid for lobbyist services. (12) Upon request of the Procuring Entity, the SADC Secretariat or any other relevant national authority or investigator representing the Procuring Entity or the SADC Secretariat, the contractor shall supply all supporting documents related to the conditions of the contract's execution. The Procuring Entity or the SADC Secretariat may carry out whatever documentary or on-the-spot checks it deems necessary to find evidence in cases of suspected or unusual commercial expenses. (13) Contractors found to have paid unusual commercial expenses on projects funded by the Procuring Entity or the SADC Secretariat are liable, depending on the seriousness of the facts observed, to have their contracts terminated or to be permanently excluded from participating in SADC Secretariat’s tenders. 11