All Dassault plants, including the U.S. completion operation in Little Rock, Arkansas, are certified ISO14001. This is the international standard that demonstrates an organization has developed and implemented an effective Environmental Management System. In addition, a company-wide EMS and data base, certified in 2007, categorizes all chemicals used in its plants.

We have introduced the use of new chromate-free paints with a lower concentration of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at all plants. And we have qualified a new process for unsealed anodizing of aluminum alloy components that allows the quantity of residual chromates on aircraft parts to be greatly reduced.

Dassault spends 15% of its manufacturing budget on improving environmental performance, and has taken more than 700 major actions in this area since 2005. Over the past decade, consumption of industrial gas and fuel at company plants has decreased by 30%, while water use has dropped 70%, despite a production rate increase during this period.

Dassault has also joined the United Nations Global Compact, a public/private initiative aimed at generating a more sustainable global economy.