Code of Ethics

Codes of Conduct

On May 10, 2011, Seldia adopted a revised European Code of Conduct, which sets the highest standards of ethics for direct selling companies that are members of the 27 national member DSAs of Seldia. The new Code is a result of the direct selling industry's commitment to ethical business and consumer protection practices, as well as its determination to ensure equal and consistent codes throughout the European Union.

Members of Seldia, representing directly and indirectly around 80% of the EU Direct Selling market, are obliged to adopt the standards of the European Code in their national codes. Companies that are member of a Seldia member association, are bound by the European Code throughout the European Union, independent of whether they are a member of a local DSA in other EU markets.

The European Code established a European Code Administrator, or Ombudsman who will handle complaints in certain instances where complaints at national DSA are not effective. Below are some guidelines on how to file a complaint.

The new Code transposes the provisions of the World Code of Ethics (see www.wfdsa.org) and adds several extra-territorial provisions.

The Ombudsman (European Code Administrator)

The European Code Administrator is the Ethics Committee of Seldia, whose composition is as follows:

Chairman:
Prof. Jules Stuyck, independent Members:
Anders Berglund, Swedish DSA
Juan Turró, Spanish DSA
Philippe Dailey, French DSA
Maurits Bruggink, Seldia

The European Code Administrator can act on complaints in four instances:

• receive and decide on complaints from parties (consumers, direct sellers, direct selling companies, consumer bodies etc) from one of the EEA countries without a DSA in membership of Seldia involving a direct selling company in membership of Seldia or of a DSA in membership of Seldia
• receive and decide on complaints from parties related to cross-border transactions and involving a direct selling company in membership of Seldia or of a DSA in membership of Seldia from one of the EEA countries
• receive and decide on complaints from DSAs in membership of Seldia in one of the EEA countries involving a direct selling company in membership of Seldia and;
• receive complaints from DSAs in membership of Seldia from one of the EEA countries involving direct selling companies in membership of WFDSA, WFDSA CEO Council or of DSAs outside membership of Seldia with the aim of mediation together with such direct selling companies, WFDSA and the DSA in question.

Complaints can be addressed to the following address:
Direct Selling European Ombudsman
c/o Seldia
Ave de Tervueren 14
1040 Brussels
Belgium

seldia@seldia.eu

How to file a code complaint?

If you have a complaint against a direct selling company that is a member of a Direct Selling Association (DSA) for any business practice you believe is unethical or illegal and a possible violation of the Code of Conduct, we recommend the following available options.

• First, try to resolve the matter directly with the company. Every company that is a member of a Direct Selling Association (DSA) must adhere to their Code of Ethics and should have a Code Compliance officer. Try to resolve your complaint with that person. Your complaint should be in writing, and should include the following basic information:
  • The date and details of the incident
  • The parties involved
  • If possible, identify the Code violation you believe has occurred
  • Efforts you have made to resolve the matter
  • List the amount and cost of product, if relevant, include invoices or other supporting documents
  • Any responses the other parties have made to resolve the matter
  • The current status of the complaint
  • How you would like to see the complaint resolved or remedied.
• If you are still not satisfied, contact the Ombudsman/Code Administrator in the country where the possible violation occurred and provide them with a description of your complaint in writing. Every DSA should also have a Ombudsman/Code Administrator or some independent entity that administers their Code of Ethics. You can contact the Code Administrator directly with your complaint. A list of Code Administrators with their phone numbers and e-mail addresses (where available) is on this website.
• If you are resident in the European Economic Area (see list of countries below) and if there is no DSA in the country where the Code violation occurred, or if the DSA is not a member of Seldia, or if the company is not a member of that country's DSA but IS a member of a DSA in another country from the European Economic Area, then you can send the complaint to the European Ombudsman.
• If you are a resident in the European Economic Area and the complaint is regarding a company that is not member of the DSA where the code violation occurred, but member of a DSA outside the Eropean Econmic Are, you can address your complaint to that DSA. Please see the WFDSA country list for all DSA's worldwide. All DSAs that are members of the WFDSA pledge to abide by the World Codes of Conduct as a minimum standard of ethical behavior.
• If it is still unclear where to address your complaint, feel free to ask Seldia for advice: seldia@seldia.eu.