General Position

The formal qualifying criteria, or authentication process employed by Ethical Brand (International) generally avoids any reliance on the need for us to to make any judgements whatsoever concerning whether or not a particular practice, arrangement or activity that any registered enterprise may be engaged in is good, appropriate or acceptable. In the democratic world at least, all institutions and particularly businesses are both explicitly and implicitly authorised to operate by the societies they serve. One of the things this means is that stakeholders are ultimately responsibile for making these judgments, because they too are accountable for what happens in the grey area between what is legal and what is right.

Our own stakeholders recognise their responsibility to set down minimum standards of moral, social and professional integrity and fair play that are consistent with what the name ethical brand strongly implies. Therefore, we routinely conduct basic screening in an effort to ensure that access to ethical brand services, programs and licensing is strictly reserved for and restricted to enterprises or individuals that are NOT currently engaged in, knowingly supporting or deriving commercial benefit from any Unacceptable Practice.

Note: Compliance with this Non-Starter Policy should not be interpreted as automatic qualification for any service or any rights whatsoever to display or use the ethical brand Identity®, which remain subject to continuing participation in the ethical brand Monitoring Program™ and the achievement of an appropriate rating.

Unacceptable Practices

We classify any enterprise or individual that we strongly suspect of being engaged in any Unacceptable Practice as a 'Non-Starter'. Included in this definition is any enterprise with a nature of business that is ambiguous, or which we consider to be inconsistent with our brand. We reserve the right to make these assessments unilaterally and without recourse in order to protect and assure the integrity of the ethical brand Identity®. To register as an ethical brand whilst engaging in any Unacceptable Practice, or to commence any Unacceptable Practice following registration is a violation of this policy. We reserve the right to deny and or cancel the provision of any of our services to Non-Starters - without compensation or refund of any description and to donate any monies received from a Non-Starter to a charity of our choosing. In extreme cases we may also seek the recovery of damages.

Legitimacy

The enterprise, enterprise or individual must be legitimate. It must exist as a legally named and distinctly identifiable enterprise that is recognised in its country of origin and it should be engaged in the nature of business declared in that respect and be contactable using a fixed line telephone number and a physical address and be willing to furnish Ethical Brand (International) with any further information it requires in order to satisfy the need to formally conmfirm or certify its legal status.

Labour Exploitation

This refers the procurement or production of products, components, materials or services that derive commercial benefit from individuals or communities that are willing to accept or at least tolerate sub-standard pay and or working conditions due to an economic, social or other disadvantage that makes them vulnerable to commercial operators. We recognise the International Labour Standards of the International Labour Organization ('ILO') and broadly define exploitation as the violation of the International Labour Standards which simply means to deny the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining; the employment of forced, compulsory or child labour or discrimination.

Greenwashing

The term 'Greenwashing' is used to describe the act of over-stating and or making explicit or implied but nonetheless misleading claims regarding environmental practices or the environmental benefits of a product or service. There are many online references to greenwashing. This is an interesting article: How to Tell Greenwashing from Real Corporate Responsibility and this is a useful starting place for further research.

IP Infringement

Any activity that involves copying, replicating, counterfeiting or otherwise illegally reproducing and or selling intellectual property that includes any original copyright or patentable material (including any brand name products) such as software, books, designs, works of art, images, film footage, music, clothing or fashion accessories without the the consent of the owners thereof.

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