Code of practice

The Ethics Code and the Professional Activity Rules are designed to develop the style of behavior, confirming high professional level and gaining trust, respect and confidence from clients, partners and community.

Part 1
General Provisions
1.1. The Ethics Code and the Professional Activity Rules (hereinafter the «Code») generally determines behavior standards for the members of the Association in their interaction with other members of the Association, clients and partners.
1.2. Members of the Association are the companies whose priority in consulting activities is to provide services of education abroad.
1.3. The Code expresses voluntarily assumed by the members of the Association obligations as to following the agreed professional activity rules.
1.4. The Code expresses aspiration of the Association and its members to maintain high ethical level and serves the basis for disciplinary actions in case of violating the rules, indicated in the Code, by a member of the Association.

Part 2
All members of the Association must keep to the following standards in behavior and professional activity:
2.1. Act in compliance with the RF legislation.
2.2. Care of their reputation and the reputation of the Association, put all reasonable efforts to increase the level of social awareness and respect in the field of provision of educational services abroad.
2.3. Contribute to the promotion of the Association by placing the Association logo on their own advertising media and other appropriate explanatory information.
2.4. Follow the principles of professional ethic in partner relations in the conditions of market economy with respect to the other members of the Association, clients and partners.
2.5. Continuously seek to improve the level of professional competence.
2.6. Provide the clients with comprehensive, accurate and timely information regarding the services.
2.7. Fulfill obligations to clients and partners in full.
2.8. Publish reliable information about programs in adverts, booklets, and on websites.
2.9. Seek to cooperate only with those foreign educational establishments that act in compliance with the legislation of respective countries, and have required accreditations, are members of educational associations and unions.
2.10. Inform of the problems that may affect most members of the Association so that the majority works out optimal solutions.
2.11. Inform the Association of the cases which may provoke doubts or conflicts with clients or partners.
2.12. Refrain from criticizing the companies, selling similar services.
2.13. The members of the Association do not offer work to consultants, working in other companies-members of the Associations with no prior notice to these companies. In case of employing a consultant from a company member of the Association, it is not acceptable to use previously accumulated customer base.
2.14. Members of the Association that have access to the base of visitors of an exhibition and the contacts of those addressing for consultation to the Association, are not entitled to use these data for the purposes of the companies they represent.
2.15. Members of the Association respect reputation and practical activities of other members of the Association, which does not cancel the right to inform of the cases of violations of the provisions of this Code in the Committee for Ethics.
2.16. Follow the decisions of the Association, adopted in accordance with this Code, and also actively participate in formal procedures of the Association activity: participation in the forum, voting, general meetings etc.

Part 3
The Association must fulfill the following ethical obligations:
3.1. Protect the interests of the members of the Association, basing on the principles of quality, honesty and openness.
3.2. Strengthen relations with domestic and international organizations, which keep to similar ethical standards.
3.3. Take actions which may prevent any damage to the image of the industry and the members of the Association.
3.4. Organize informational, consulting and methodological assistance to the members of the Association, including the cases of the emergence of disputes and conflicts with clients or partners.
3.5. Protect collective interests of the members of the Association and reasonably contribute to the organization of legal protection of the interests of individual members of the Association.

Part 4
Mechanisms of Code implementation
4.1. To control the compliance with this Code the Association establishes the Committee for Code Compliance (hereinafter the «Committee for Ethics»).
4.2. The Committee for Ethics informs the Association Council of all the cases of violating the Ethics Code, basing on the received applications, analyzes the suggestions and prepares reports on consideration of specific cases of the Code violations.
4.3. The Committee for Ethics includes 3 persons, elected by the general meeting from the valid members. The Committee assigns the Head of the Committee, who provides the reports on the activity of the Committee to the Association Council and to the general meeting of the Association upon its request.
4.4. The process of investigating the cases of violations may be initiated by the Committee for Ethics, members of the Council or any member of the Association. All the facts of violations of the Code provisions must be documented.
4.5. Before making a decision, the Committee for Ethics requests for written explanations from the member of the Association that received the claim on the Code violation (the replay is provided to the Committee for Ethics within 2 weeks), and over a specific period (within 1 month) from the moment of receiving the claim on violations puts forward its suggestions to the Association Council.
4.6. The decision regarding the violation of set behavior and professional activity standards is open for all members of the Association and is published in the closed forum for the members of the Association.
4.7. In case of disagreement with the adopted decision, the member of the Association, that received the claim on violating the Code, has the right to appeal to the general meeting.
4.8. For the purposes of the Code the following disciplinary actions may be taken:
- reprimand;
- warning;
- banning from the members of the Association in case of neglecting the decisions of the Association Council or repeated violation of the Code.
4.9. The Code is valid from the date of its approval by the general meeting.
4.10. Amendments and alterations to the Code shall be made by the simple majority vote at the general meeting.