| ~ ANNOUNCEMENT ~ DITA Adopts Voluntary Member Audit Program From its inception in 2006, the Defoamer Industry Trade Association established “the responsible performance of its members” as one of its primary missions: “The Association will promote the ethical, beneficial and responsible performance of member companies and encourage the application of these standards throughout the entire industry.” See DITA Vision and Mission Statements. (Link to “Vision and Mission statements” on “About DITA” page.) To encourage and define “responsible performance” the association adopted a Code of Conduct in 2008. (Link to COC document) All member companies have pledged to abide by the “Principles of Conduct” and “Rules of Conduct” contained in the code. Inherent in the “Rules of Conduct” is a commitment to meeting specific regulatory requirements relevant to the industries served by many of the member companies. To support this commitment, DITA members recently adopted the “Voluntary Member Audit Program (VMAP)” with the following Scope and Objective: (Link to VMAP) Scope: The Voluntary Member Audit Program is for members that elect to have their compliance management systems measured against a protocol recommended by DITA members. Objective: The VMAP has been established as an optional mechanism for member companies to demonstrate a level of compliance recommended by DITA as stated in the Association’s Code of Conduct. (The VMAP also recognizes that because there are other audit programs used by members to validate their compliance management systems, the VMAP allows for another program to be submitted as an alternative method of meeting the VMAP objective.) DITA members believe this is an important step in demonstrating support for the foundational principles of the association. However, DITA also recognizes there are many acceptable mechanisms and systems available for managing regulatory compliance. DITA’s VMAP is only one such approach. Although the program contains provisions for reporting audit results to DITA, members electing to use the protocol recommended in the VMAP are under no obligation to acknowledge to DITA the completion of such an audit, or to make public the results. However, DITA supports the advantages of demonstrating to the defoamer industry stakeholders the ethical and professional standards promoted by its members. To that end, DITA has provided on the VMAP page links to each member company’s website. These links will provide access to each company’s statement regarding its commitment to DITA’s Rules of Conduct and to other information about regulatory compliance initiatives. Disclaimer: It is important to recognize that DITA is not the auditing entity, and cannot sanction the results of any audit conducted by or for one of its member companies. Any member company electing to use the VMAP protocol (or any contracted auditing entity) is solely responsible for the validity of the results. Attachments and Links:
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