Do

  • Familiarise yourself and ensure adherence with the terms of both the ACRISS Code of Conduct and Constitution which governs the Association.
  • Remember that any discussion around competitively and commercially sensitive information is forbidden, the Secretariat will be responsible for ensuring compliance.
  • Report to the Association, any meetings with competitors, under the ACRISS umbrella, where competitively sensitive information is discussed.
  • Ensure that the requirements for any quality schemes, guidelines, validations, and audits the Association operates are fair, reasonable and are available to all businesses that meet them.
  • Ensure any agreement/approval of projects, standards, formats, codes are non-discriminatory and fair to all.
  • Remember that ACRISS can be liable for breaches of competition law and that any breach can have both financial and reputational consequences for the Association.

Don’t

  • Have any rules, standard and guidelines set by the Association prevent any member and associate from taking independent commercial decisions.
  • Be a channel for, or otherwise facilitate, the sharing of competitively sensitive information between members and associates about pricing, customers or output plans.
  • Discuss competitively and commercially sensitive information in or around Association events, including in ‘unofficial meetings’ or at social events.
  • Issue formal or informal pricing or output recommendations at ACRISS to members and associates.
  • Develop and set association rules or practices that restrict members and associates from advertising their prices or discounts, soliciting for business or otherwise competing with other members.
  • As members and associates provide the Association with competitively sensitive information, such as information about pricing and/or output intentions.
  • Publish messages suggesting that lower prices or price differentiation means lower quality.
  • Establish irrelevant or arbitrary rules for the admission of new members.
  • Adopt rules that restrict members’ advertising and promotional business practices, beyond ensuring such practices are legal, truthful and not misleading.
  • Prevent members and associates from using different contractual conditions from any Association- developed standard conditions, if they wish to do so.

ACRISS is bound by the rules of the Association to ensure that any conditions and admission criteria for the Association are transparent, proportionate, non-discriminatory and based upon objective standards.

ACRISS will facilitate the discussion and agreement of good practices, standards and guidelines for the benefit of all in a non-discriminatory manner and will ensure that any terms and conditions developed by the association are clear, easily understood, in plain language and fair to consumers.

ACRISS Dos and Don'ts document