Seldia - The European Direct Selling Association

Summary of the initiative

Name
Seldia - The European Direct Selling Association
Objective(s)
Increasing clients' trust in the quality of the products/services; Improving sector's image; Raising industry standards; Using it as a marketing tool; Enhancing the level of information; Improving sector's image; Avoiding government regulation; Going beyond legislative requirements. The Directive 97/7/EC considers that "it is important for the minimum binding rules contained in this Directive to be supplemented where appropriate by voluntary arrangements among the traders concerned, in line with Commission recommendation 92/295/EEC of 7 April 1992 on codes of practice for the protection of consumers in respect of contracts negotiated at a distance". It also considers that "in the interest of optimum consumer protection it is important for consumers to be satisfactorily informed of the provisions of this Directive and of codes of practice that may exist in this field". As a consequence, Article 16 provides that "Member States shall take appropriate measures to inform the consumer of the national law transposing this Directive and shall encourage, where appropriate, professional organisations to inform consumers of their codes of practice". Together with the European direct selling Code of conduct towards direct sellers, between direct sellers and between companies, it forms the European Code of Conduct for Direct Selling.

Description of the Initiative

    Sector

    Sector

    Contact Point - Commission
    GROW E.1

    Self/Co-Regulation Basic Act

    LEGISLATIVE ACT
    Year
    1997
    Title of Act
    Directive 97/7/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 1997 on the protection of consumers in respect of distance contracts, Official Journal L 144, 4.6.1997, p. 19-27
    PRIVATE ACT
    Year
    2004
    Title of Act
    European Direct Selling Code of Conduct Towards Consumers
    Review, Revision or Sunset Clause Year
    2011

    Geographical Coverage

    Global coverage
    Participating Countries
    Austria
    Other countries
    EU Candidate Countries: Serbia, Turkey - Other countries: Russia, Ukraine

    Description

    Problems that lead to the introduction of Self/Co-Regulation and the adoption of the Founding Act
    Need of ethical standards in Business to Consumers (B2C) trade in direct selling.
    Target Group(s)
    Direct sellers and direct selling companies
    Type of Instrument(s)
    Unilateral code of conduct
    Level(s) at which private rules should be defined and applied
    Type of Financing
    SELDIA membership fees
    Type of Monitoring
    Conduct an initial survey of compliance capacity of future regulateesConduct regular visits and spot checksInitiate complaints proceduresMaintain database of those bounded by the normsProduce regular reportsReceive complaints and verify if norms were breached or notReflexive dialogue with the - stakeholdersOther
    European Commission
    National public authority
    International public authority
    Private regulator (code owner)yesyesyesyesyesyes
    Private independent party with a mandate (e.g. auditors)yesyesyesyesyesyes
    Self-appointed private parties (e.g. NGOs)
    Succinct description of the type of Monitoring
    Each DSA shall appoint an independent person or body as Code Administrator. The Code Administrator shall monitor companies' observance of the Code by appropriate actions. The Code Administrator shall settle any unresolved complaint of consumers based on breaches of the Code and shall furnish an annual report on the operation of the Code.
    Type of Enforcement
    Faming, shaming and blamingJudicial sanctionsMembership suspension/exclusionPrivate finesOther
    Private Regulatoryesyes
    Private independent party with a mandate (e.g. auditors)yesyes
    Court system
    Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) / Online dispute resolution (ODR)

    Downloads

    European Codes of Conduct for Direct Selling, 2011