By signing the IGI code of conduct, an IGI Member undertakes to abide by the following standards and procedures as a condition of admission and continuing membership in IGI – the Global Wallcoverings Association, be it is an IGI Ordinary Member or an IGI Associate Member ( hereafter together « IGI Members »), whatever is applicable:

A. Lawful conduct
IGI Members take compliance with the applicable laws and regulations for granted and are obliged to know, respect and comply with such applicable laws and regulations.

B. Mutual respect
IGI Members show respect to fellow IGI Members and their employees, representatives, officers and agents as an individual, irrespective of their ethnic origin, skin color, handicap, ideology, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, social background, gender or age. Each IGI Member is obliged to refrain from any kind of discrimination (e.g. disadvantaging, harassment, mobbing) and is obliged to make a respectful and fair cooperation with fellow IGI Members possible.

C. Fairness
The spirit of fairness for fellow IGI Members is a fundamental principle for IGI membership. IGI Members support fair competition and commercial practices and undertake to comply with competition, antitrust and commercial practice laws of the European Community. Behavior preventing or restricting fair competition and/or fair commercial practices are expressly forbidden. Such behavior includes but is not be limited to prohibited agreements on pricing, quotations, terms and conditions of sale, capacity requirements which are sensitive or relevant for the market, passing-off or otherwise making misrepresentations in relation to itself, its products or services.

The above applies not only to formal agreements which are by definition prohibited but also to coordinated behavior, for example informal discussions or informal agreements aiming to or causing a restriction of competition. United market approaches by IGI Members enabling commercial collaboration to increase sales are only acceptable if such united market approach, formal or informal, complies with all applicable competition and antitrust laws and if such united market approach is made clear to all fellow IGI Members through the IGI Executive Committee.

D. Avoidance of conflicts of interest
IGI Members undertake not to in any way defame, criticize, undermine, or take unfair advantage of a fellow IGI Member’s reputation or merchandise and should actively promote and encourage the highest level of integrity within the industry. IGI Members undertake to refrain from offering, granting, demanding and accepting benefits to or from fellow IGI Members for personal purposes, enrichment or with a view on influencing decision-making processes.

E. Undertaking of confidentiality
IGI Members are committed to protect all information supplied to IGI Members by the IGI organization in whatever form including oral, written and electronic (hereafter the “Confidential Information”).

Each IGI Member undertakes (i) not to disclose to any third party (meaning a non IGI member) the Confidential Information, and (ii) to take all appropriate measure to maintain confidentiality of such Confidential Information.

The obligation of confidentiality does not apply or will cease to apply to any Confidential Information for which the recipient IGI Member can reasonably demonstrate that such Confidential Information (i) was already known by the recipient IGI Member prior to disclosure by IGI as shown by the recipient IGI Member’s written records, (ii) is or becomes part of the public domain through no act or omission of the recipient IGI Member, (iii) is lawfully disclosed to an IGI Member by a third party on a non-confidential basis.

F. Involvement and support to IGI
Involvement and support of IGI Members is an essential part of the IGI’s raison d’être and all IGI Members undertake to supply all reasonable endeavors to ensure genuine involvement and support of the IGI’s Members.

IGI will not tolerate violations of this Code of Conduct. By signing this Code of Conduct, every IGI Member accepts all consequences taken by IGI regarding such violation, including but not limited to membership termination. The report on violation will be treated confidentially.

G. No copying
IGI Members undertake to endeavor to prevent the illegal copying of designs and the use of such illegal design copies in the wallcoverings industry. To this end, each IGI Ordinary Member shall comply with the following standards and procedures:

1. Designs for use in own wallcovering production
In accordance with all applicable laws, IGI Members shall use / supply only proprietary or duly licensed designs in relation to their own wallcovering production. In order to ensure to be entitled to the applicable intellectual property rights, including but not limited to copyrights and design rights (hereafter “the IP Rights”), IGI Members shall keep and regularly update records that contain at least the following information:
– The date of creation of the design and the name of the designer;
–  If the IP Rights in the design concerned are not proprietary to the IGI Member:
• A deed of transfer, a deed of license, a design purchase invoice or any other     document confirming the lawful use of the IP Rights in the design concerned by the IGI Member;
• In addition, IGI strongly recommends to obtain a warranty by the assignor or the licensor (whatever is applicable) of a peaceful use of the concerned design by the IGI Member (and in particular that the concerned design does not breach the IP Rights of third parties).
– The relationship between the design on file and the design eventually produced on the wallcovering;
– A copy of the invoice for the first delivery of the wallcovering containing the design.

2. Designs used for production of wallcoverings on a commission basis
IGI Members shall only accept a design for supply / production of wallcoverings on a commission basis if the commissioner provides the IGI Member with the information referred to under G.1 above including full origin of the design. IGI Members shall keep further records of the designs processed for a commissioner as referred under G.1 above.

By signing the IGI Code of Conduct, IGI Members are committed to strict compliance with these standards.