Code of Ethics of the Association of Building Machinery Distributors and Lessors I. Preamble The Code of Ethics was formulated in order to provide a norm of ethics beyond the legal provisions for the members of the Association of Building Machinery Distributors and Lessors (hereafter: ÉBSZ) and to create greater accordance between the interests of the distributors, providers, operators and employees. Its aim is to contribute to the improvement of the specialty and the higher standard of the service through supporting fair competition and to improve the estimation of the specialty. To regulate each and every momentum of business life and every activity of the market participants is impossible and is even undesirable by economic, legal or political means. Ethical requirements beyond the legal regulations and recognised by the participants have a significant role in the regulation of the living standards. The respect of these requirements is the keystone of the mutual trust and cooperation between the members. The Code of Ethics provides a direction by the definition of the expected behavioural norms, regulations and bans. The ethical behaviour implies the law abiding behaviour. Therefore the unlawful and illegal behaviour also violates the principals of ethics. However, the Code of Ethics does not repeat the legal regulations and in case of their violation does not ensure the initiation of an ethical procession, as it supposes that in such cases the competent government agencies will proceed. However it can not exclude norms accepted as ethical norms, even if they have already been formulated as legal regulations.
It does not violate principals of ethics however, if the person, who is harmed by the unlawful behaviour of someone else, draws the attention of the competent government agencies to the infringement. Members of the ÉBSZ accept freely the system of regulations formulated in the Code of Ethics. The members also respect the aims formulated in the Articles of Association. Basic aim of the procedures of the Ethical Committee is that the matters of dispute get solved through direct negotiations by the parties conciliating their interests. The procedure of the Committee is supposed to help further cooperation between the parties, prevention of lawsuits and settlement of the disputes out of court. The activity of the Committee is also supposed to serve the fair business competition and the undisturbance of the cooperation of business associations. Requirements formulated in the Code do not present a detailed and complete list of ethical behaviour and also the prohibited forms of behaviour listed do not exhaust the forms of unethical behaviour. Interpretation of the Code in order to be applied is the exclusive right of the Ethical Committee obliged to apply both the words and the spirit of the Code. II. Subjects of the Code of Ethics - business associations operating in Hungary, registered into the register of companies and possessing legal personality, registered as members of the ÉBSZ,
- supporters of the ÉBSZ,
- honorary members of the ÉBSZ,
- officials of the ÉBSZ.
III. General requirements Members of the association assume a commitment for proceeding conscientiously and honestly during their business activities, discharging their duties and pursuing their activities in the spirit of cooperation, with the requirements of the business moral and honour and in accordance with the business practices. They behave well-meaningly and in good faith during their business activities, endeavour to reach the satisfaction of the clients and the consumers, support the activities of the association with their work and contribution, enhance the cooperation between the members.
They do not influence the decision of their clients and customers dishonestly and do not limit their freedom of choice concerning products and services through dishonest business techniques.
In accordance with the requirements of a fair business relationship, they observe the written and unwritten agreements and the regulations formulated in the Code of Ethics.
Building upon the principles of a long-term relationship, they do not undertake such commitments of which it is foreseeable in the moment of the undertaking that it can not be discharged.
They avoid every form of behaviour which endangers or harms the reputation of their business partners and rivals.
They always settle their public debts.
They avoid activities or behaviour which can affect the opinions about the specialty negatively.
They are obliged to cooperate with the authorities competent in their cases with the consideration of their own interests. Professional requirements The members of the association can only pursue such activities for which they have the sufficient professional preparedness.
They satisfy the industrial safety and qualitative requirements connected to the products manufactured, distributed and operated by them.
They follow the improvement of the profession and improve their services, forecast the new challenges of the specialty.
They insist on machines with CE qualification during their acquisitions, and bear the responsibility of the machines and solutions used by them meeting the requirements of the authorities.
They offer their expertise to their customers, and they offer different ways of solution in certain cases, and they give assistance in choosing the proper machines. Protection of the human values and the environment They serve their partners and customers without differentiation the best conceivable way.
They prefer distributing source- and energy saving, environmentally sound and health protective products and industrial processes.
They realise the selective collection of industrial waste, and they support their recycling as far as possible.
They endeavour to the extensive usage of the reusable packing and advertising sheets.
They participate in the work of the professional associations as their economic power and time allows, support the local communes, educational, healthcare and social suppliers, sport, cultural and art associations and other aims and associations serving the commonweal, and their support is disinterested. Communication, advertisements The customers have the right to acquire information which acts upon their knowledge and is understandable for them, therefore this have to be ensured by the suitable means of information or our sufficiently prepared colleagues in the due course.
The advertisements have to inform the customer about the product, the preferences and the discounts accurately, genuinely and understandably.
The advertisements have to reflect the real advantages of the product; they cannot state groundlessly that the product has some special advantages or that other products do not have these advantages.
We have to endeavour to ensure stock proportionate to the expected demand for our announced discounts.
Advertising or marketing strategies which can cause disadvantages to other members or market persons or are suitable for distracting from their reputation are not ethical. Therefore contrastive advertisements or any unlawful usage of others' trademarks are especially prohibited. It is also prohibited to use abusing or misleading advertisements or advertisements which offend our rivals. Quality assurance The customer has the right for products meeting the professional requirements and the legal provisions independently from the price of the product. Therefore the members of the association do not market a product which does not meet the qualitative requirements defined in the provisions and directives of the professional regulations. It is unethical to conceal or misinterpret defects of the product invisible for the first sight but admitted by the distributor or manufacturer.
The customer is informed about the reason of the price reduction, discount or sale if it is in connection with the quality of the stock, production failure or decrease in the quality of the product.
Service connected to the product is a decisive factor of the quality of the product; therefore the reliability of the marketed and leased products has to be ensured by sufficient component supply and maintenance service in accordance with the advertisements and approved conditions.
The distributed or leased machines are fitted with the suitable industrial safety description and sufficient safety fittings. In order to decrease the malfunctions of the leased machines to a minimum regular maintenance is done. Obligations connected to the membership of the association The Members are obliged to meet their engagements towards the association resultant from their membership relations, and meet the engagements of the Association assumed with the consent of the members.
Active participation in the business of the Association and enforcement of the judgment is expectable from the Members.
The members assume to provide statistical data necessary for the association and/or assumed by them and not to descry pieces of information which do not meet reality.
The members only vindicate their interests in the nomination and election processes in a fair way; do not apply means of disputable nature.
Relationship of the members of the Association to each other With the respect of the requirements of the free market competition the members do not play each other in a way which may impair the other party unlawfully.
The Members are obliged to treat every piece of information which came to their knowledge in connection with their membership relations confidential and to stay from abuse of these pieces of information in any way.
It is particularly forbidden to utilize confidant pieces of information in such a way that results in any kind of disadvantage or disadvantage of the other members.
The Members stay from enticing employees employed by other members to their own companies. The labour enticement is especially unfair, if it particularly aims at decreasing the business potential of the partners or rivals.
They stay from gaining information about each other's activities, internal and business matters in a way that violates the business moral.
The Members do not act on behalf of the ÉBSZ without a commission and do not abuse with the name and trademark of the ÉBSZ.
The members of the association do not impugn each other publicly, and stay from the negative record of each other. If the standpoint of one of the members would presumably conflict with the standpoint of another member, this always should be prevented through consultation and they should make every effort in order to reach a consensus. If the evolved standpoints of the two members are divergent, they should try to consider the opposing standpoints. The Members have the right to represent their independent standpoints.
The members freely offer the termination of their membership and the dismissal of their delegates, experts and trustees, if their membership prejudices the estimation of the entrepreneur or the Association because of professional or other reasons.
The members freely dismiss their delegates, experts or trustees if their participation in the work prejudices the estimation of the entrepreneur or the Association because of professional or other reasons.
The ÉBSZ expect their officials to represent and to realise the regulations of the Code of Ethics with their activities and their behaviour. Public appearance assumed by the members can not provide a ground to put their own company forward. Resultant from his associational function, nobody can proceed in cases concerning his own person or company. In such cases the official of the association shall ask someone else for his replacement because of the possible partiality. Requirements of the competition law The Members are obliged to stay from any of the manifestations of unfair competition listed in the act on prohibition of unfair business behaviour. The Members assume to stay from any form of the unlawful limitation of the competition. It is forbidden for the members to misuse the economical ascendancy. Notification requirements The Members are obliged to notify any changes which occur at the Members in the hereunder cases: - occurrence of insolvency or bankrupt or initiation of liquidation procedure,
- initiation of a competition law procedure against the Member,
- initiation of procedure of protection of industrial property rights against the Member,
- changes in the company law status of the Member,
- changes in the management of the Member,
- changes in the licenses concerning the professional operation,
- changes in the person of representative of the Member in the Association.
Reports about the abuses connected to the leases to the official closed list of its specialty, which is operated by the Chamber of Commerce and is in common use of the member companies. Supplement - actual questions of centre of significance In favour of the positive change of the phenomena obstructing the fair market competition the members appoint those presently significant questions, which they attend to in particular.
These questions of centre of significance are the following: - they do not regularly employ trained employees registered for minimum wage and pay the payment conventional in the profession,
- they do not regularly employ „bogus self-employers” in order to avoid taxation
- they do not change the individual identifiers, and type markings and date of construction of the machines,
- they do not prepare false warrants and records,
- the members of the Association do not cooperate with companies directly violating the norms defined in the Code of Ethics,
- they strictly observe the industrial safety regulations, the rules of work, breaks and the normal payment of the ordained overtime,
- they report the unlawful marketing actions to the Board of the ÉBSZ as soon as they get informed about them. The ÉBSZ will proceed towards the competent state authorities,
- they do not represent false and misleading technical data and incorrect inferences neither about their own nor about their rival's products,
- they do not establish business contacts and do not reach agreements with illegal persons and unlicensed entrepreneurs and employees of the market; they do not acquire, sell or operate equipments which derive from an unlicensed and illegal commerce.
IV. Order of operation of the Ethical Committee - The Committee pursues its activities according to the annual schedule, which completes with the investigation of factual reports and petitions.
- The Ethical Committee has quorum if the majority of the members are present.
- The Ethical Committee forms its opinion with a simple majority vote by open vote.
- The session of the Ethical committee is not public. The colleague of the administrative office of the ÉBSZ acts as a secretary of the Committee.
- The opinion or suggestions of the Ethical Committee are put down in writing and communicated to the parties or are publicized when it is justified.
V. Procedures of the Ethical Committee - The Ethical Committee can initiate a procedure:
- ex officio,
- of its own accord,
- at the request of the Chairman of the Association,
- at the request of a member.
- Factual reports or petitions submitted by the subjects of the Code are discussed within 30 days of report by the Ethical Committee.
- If one year has passed since the unlawful act or behaviour reported in the petition or report, the Committee omits the procedure.
- The Committee ensures the equality of the parties during the procedures and also ensures that the parties get acquainted with the files of the procedure during the procedure.
- The procedure has to be recorded.
- If any of the members participating in the procedure files complaints against a member of the Ethical Committee, the exclusion of that member from the procedure can be requested. In this case the Board of the Association temporarily appoints an outside member to participate in the procedure. The activities of the outside member extend till the close of the procedure.
- The Ethical Committee terminates the procedure if the parties who initiated the procedure announce that they do not feel the Committee's opinion necessary considering the circumstances evolved during the time of the procedure.
- In case of a complaint the Committee's obligation is to proceed in favour of the other members of the association. If during the procedure the Committee ascertains the violation of the norms, it makes a proposal for applying sanctions. If it does not ascertain violation, the ÉBSZ's obligation is to protect its member from the consequences of an unfounded complaint.
- If the Committee feels it necessary to apply sanctions, then it proposes to the Board or the General Meeting for the sanctions.
- Sanctions which can be applied by the Board:
- warning,
- public warning (in case of a minor misdemeanour at the meeting of the members, in more serious or recurring cases on the homepage of the Association),
- exclusion.
- Procedures of the Ethical Committee are free of charge.
The Code of Ethics was accepted and enacted by the General Meeting of the Association of Building Machinery Distributors and Lessors on 8 January 2008.
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