Kraft 2004 Annual Report Download - page 47

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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Board of Directors and Shareholders of Kraft Foods Inc.:
We have completed an integrated audit of Kraft Foods Inc.’s 2004 consolidated financial statements
and of its internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2004, and audits of its 2003 and
2002 consolidated financial statements in accordance with the standards of the Public Company
Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Our opinions, based on our audits, are presented below.
Consolidated financial statements
In our opinion, the accompanying consolidated balance sheets and the related consolidated
statements of earnings, shareholders’ equity and cash flows present fairly, in all material respects, the
financial position of Kraft Foods Inc. and its subsidiaries (the ‘‘Company’’) at December 31, 2004 and
2003, and the results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the three years in the period
ended December 31, 2004, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United
States of America. These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our
responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits. We conducted
our audits of these statements in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting
Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain
reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit
of financial statements includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and
disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant
estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We
believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Internal control over financial reporting
Also, in our opinion, management’s assessment, included in the Report of Management on Internal
Control Over Financial Reporting dated February 2, 2005, that the Company maintained effective internal
control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2004 based on criteria established in Internal
Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway
Commission (‘‘COSO’’), is fairly stated, in all material respects, based on those criteria. Furthermore, in
our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial
reporting as of December 31, 2004, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated
Framework issued by the COSO. The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining effective
internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over
financial reporting. Our responsibility is to express opinions on management’s assessment and on the
effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit. We
conducted our audit of internal control over financial reporting in accordance with the standards of the
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and
perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial
reporting was maintained in all material respects. An audit of internal control over financial reporting
includes obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, evaluating
management’s assessment, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal
control, and performing such other procedures as we consider necessary in the circumstances. We
believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinions.
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable
assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for
external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal
control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (i) pertain to the
maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and
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