Talisman Officially Joins Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights Plenary Group
In January 2008, the corporate, government and NGO participants in the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights Plenary Group officially welcomed Talisman as a new participant. Official inclusion in the Plenary follows several years of consultations with Canadian and US governments, NGOs and Plenary Group participants.

Companies participating in the Voluntary Principles agree to meet minimum participation requirements, including public promotion and proactive implementation of the Voluntary Principles, annual public disclosure of implementation efforts, participation in Plenary Group meetings and responses to requests for information from Plenary Group participants. Key features of the Voluntary Principles include a dispute resolution process to raise concerns about the performance of a participant, accountability mechanisms that include the possibility of expulsion, and more transparent procedures for accepting new members.

The Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights were developed in 2000 by the US and UK governments, select resource companies and various civil society groups as an international framework for the provision of security. The full text of the Voluntary Principles, the participation criteria and list of current participants may be found at www.voluntaryprinciples.org.

Our employee and contractor safety and security are of paramount importance. To ensure that security risks are minimized and that secure environments are established and maintained for our employees and contractors, we continually revise and update our security practices and policies, benchmarking them against international best practices. We also audit our security practices regularly.

Managing Security and Human Rights
Talisman has incorporated the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights into its PBCE, Security Policy and Security Policy Guidelines since 2004. The Security Policy and Security Policy Guidelines provide employees with a framework for creating safe work environments by promoting respect for human rights and advancing best practices with governments, joint venture participants and third parties. They also provide contractor personnel or private security firms supplying security services on the Company’s behalf with comprehensive policies and procedures for conducting security operations in accordance with Talisman’s standards.

In accordance with the Company’s joint operating agreement (JOA) guidelines, Talisman endeavours to include our Environmental and Community Relations guidelines and a commitment to the Talisman Security Policy or the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights in all new international JOAs (outside of the UK). The inclusion of these matters is a corporate responsibility enhancement beyond standard industry international JOA precedents. Talisman has been successful in including such matters in many of its recently negotiated international JOAs, including JOAs related to projects in Colombia, Peru and Indonesia.

Talisman has developed a comprehensive Security Manual to better equip senior management with the knowledge and tools needed to address security issues as they arise. The Security Manual lays out security policy and various procedures for dealing with such issues as evacuations and threats to Talisman employees and facilities. The Manual also standardizes alert status across Talisman operations, helping the Company better manage security threats, regardless of location.