About Us | IGI

BENEFITS

Whether it be external challenges from new competitors in the global market place, or labour or regulatory issues, conducting business has become a much more complex affair to manage.

Joining IGI will give you the opportunity to receive strategic information and to network with knowledgeable professionals from your industry sector.

Click here to view the 2022 Membership Brochure

IGI is committed to meeting your business needs.

Objectives

Establish standards of commercial practice and product performance to protect and further the interest of consumers, traders and manufacturers,
Promote excellence in the standards of materials and workmanship in the products of the industry,
Conduct technical research and market studies,
Organize technical and marketing seminars,
Participate in international exhibitions.

Services provided by IGI are regularly reviewed in order to match the evolving expectations of the association’s membership.

to become a Member !

MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS

Information

Annual Market Statistics Report – Published once/year
Information collated on the worldwide production and consumption of wallcoverings, including imports, exports and domestic usage in various countries. The annual statistics show trends over the 5 previous years.
Improvements are continuously being made to expand the number of reporting countries to improve collection and reliability of data and to include new categories as new products enter the market place.
Industry Opinion Survey – Conducted up to twice/year
The findings will provide participating companies with valuable information about the wallcoverings industry covering the past and current year as well as trends and forecast.
Operating Ratios Benchmarking Study – Pubished every other year
The study looks at a range of carefully chosen performance measures covering all the main areas of a company’s operations. There are sections on profitability, operating costs, employee productivity and asset utilisation together with a short written summary of all the main findings and trends.
The aim of the IGI Benchmarking Project is to help companies improve profitability by providing a systematic method for participants to compare their own results with those of other leading wallcovering manufacturers from across the industry.
IGI offers participation without charge to IGI members.

Meetings

Annual Congress – once a year
The opportunity to meet informally with industry colleagues, and to gather information about industry trends, new techniques and retailing initiatives etc.
The Congress format emphasises interactive programmes, and includes value-added speakers.
IGI offers preferred Members and Associate Members registration fees.
Technical Conference – every 3 year
Targeted to the production and technical staff of the member companies, the Technical Conference provides a forum for sharing new techniques and developments within the wallcoverings production process.

Communication

E-Newsletter
Published every other month and distributed via electronic mail, the newsletter keeps members informed on EU legislation affecting the industry, standards and any other relevant industry news.
Website
IGI’s website provides quick and easy access to industry information and services.
Using a specific password, IGI members have access to the “members only” section where they can download the latest market and industry reports.

Certification

IGI Mark
IGI is determined that rolls of wallcoverings should be governed by a system of control that will ensure they do not cause any problems for the consumer or the world at large. IGI has therefore established the ground rules for a quality assurance system that is applicable worldwide. IGI proposes to act as the monitoring body for the award of a distinctive symbol that can be used on rolls and packaging to indicate that the product conforms to these rules.
IGI offers a preferred Members fee to cover the sample testing.
IGI Member – Fee First Year: 1.500 Euro
IGI Member – Renewal Fee/Year: 995Euro

Liaison with other bodies

CEN
The European Standardisation Body has granted IGI with a liaison status to the Technical Committee on Wallcoverings (TC 99 ) and on Dangerous Substances (TC 351). Meetings are regularly attended, and members kept updated on the development of standards.

BECOME A MEMBER

Member:

Individual companies may become members of IGI providing that they:

are a legal entity according to the law in their country,
are currently in membership of an existing National Association of Wallcovering manufacturers, or are manufacturers of wallcoverings (see Brussels Nomenclature -Chapter 48.14), or flexible wallcovering,
produce and market a recognised collection of wallcoverings under a trade name.

The 2023 annual membership fee is 3.330 euros.
The 2023 annual Branch/Sister Company Membership fee is 450 euros.

Associate Member:

Companies may become associate members of IGI providing that they are suppliers to the wallcovering industry.

The 2023 annual associate membership fee is 3.975 euros.
The 2023 annual Associate Branch/Sister Company Membership fee is 590 euros.

Junior Member:
Information available on demand.

to become a Member !
Upon receipt of your application, it will be submitted to the IGI Executive Committee for official acceptance.

BY-LAWS

IGI AISBL – IVZW

Click on the below PDF button to download the full text for the IGI By-laws.

IGI MEMBER CODE OF CONDUCT

By signing the IGI code of conduct, an IGI Member undertakes to abide by the following standards and procedures as a condition of admission and continuing membership in IGI – the Global Wallcoverings Association, be it is an IGI Ordinary Member or an IGI Associate Member ( hereafter together « IGI Members »), whatever is applicable:

A. Lawful conduct
IGI Members take compliance with the applicable laws and regulations for granted and are obliged to know, respect and comply with such applicable laws and regulations.

B. Mutual respect
IGI Members show respect to fellow IGI Members and their employees, representatives, officers and agents as an individual, irrespective of their ethnic origin, skin color, handicap, ideology, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, social background, gender or age. Each IGI Member is obliged to refrain from any kind of discrimination (e.g. disadvantaging, harassment, mobbing) and is obliged to make a respectful and fair cooperation with fellow IGI Members possible.

C. Fairness
The spirit of fairness for fellow IGI Members is a fundamental principle for IGI membership. IGI Members support fair competition and commercial practices and undertake to comply with competition, antitrust and commercial practice laws of the European Community. Behavior preventing or restricting fair competition and/or fair commercial practices are expressly forbidden. Such behavior includes but is not be limited to prohibited agreements on pricing, quotations, terms and conditions of sale, capacity requirements which are sensitive or relevant for the market, passing-off or otherwise making misrepresentations in relation to itself, its products or services.

The above applies not only to formal agreements which are by definition prohibited but also to coordinated behavior, for example informal discussions or informal agreements aiming to or causing a restriction of competition. United market approaches by IGI Members enabling commercial collaboration to increase sales are only acceptable if such united market approach, formal or informal, complies with all applicable competition and antitrust laws and if such united market approach is made clear to all fellow IGI Members through the IGI Executive Committee.

D. Avoidance of conflicts of interest
IGI Members undertake not to in any way defame, criticize, undermine, or take unfair advantage of a fellow IGI Member’s reputation or merchandise and should actively promote and encourage the highest level of integrity within the industry. IGI Members undertake to refrain from offering, granting, demanding and accepting benefits to or from fellow IGI Members for personal purposes, enrichment or with a view on influencing decision-making processes.

E. Undertaking of confidentiality
IGI Members are committed to protect all information supplied to IGI Members by the IGI organization in whatever form including oral, written and electronic (hereafter the “Confidential Information”).

Each IGI Member undertakes (i) not to disclose to any third party (meaning a non IGI member) the Confidential Information, and (ii) to take all appropriate measure to maintain confidentiality of such Confidential Information.

The obligation of confidentiality does not apply or will cease to apply to any Confidential Information for which the recipient IGI Member can reasonably demonstrate that such Confidential Information (i) was already known by the recipient IGI Member prior to disclosure by IGI as shown by the recipient IGI Member’s written records, (ii) is or becomes part of the public domain through no act or omission of the recipient IGI Member, (iii) is lawfully disclosed to an IGI Member by a third party on a non-confidential basis.

F. Involvement and support to IGI
Involvement and support of IGI Members is an essential part of the IGI’s raison d’être and all IGI Members undertake to supply all reasonable endeavors to ensure genuine involvement and support of the IGI’s Members.

IGI will not tolerate violations of this Code of Conduct. By signing this Code of Conduct, every IGI Member accepts all consequences taken by IGI regarding such violation, including but not limited to membership termination. The report on violation will be treated confidentially.

G. No copying
IGI Members undertake to endeavor to prevent the illegal copying of designs and the use of such illegal design copies in the wallcoverings industry. To this end, each IGI Ordinary Member shall comply with the following standards and procedures:

1. Designs for use in own wallcovering production
In accordance with all applicable laws, IGI Members shall use / supply only proprietary or duly licensed designs in relation to their own wallcovering production. In order to ensure to be entitled to the applicable intellectual property rights, including but not limited to copyrights and design rights (hereafter “the IP Rights”), IGI Members shall keep and regularly update records that contain at least the following information:
– The date of creation of the design and the name of the designer;
– If the IP Rights in the design concerned are not proprietary to the IGI Member:
• A deed of transfer, a deed of license, a design purchase invoice or any other document confirming the lawful use of the IP Rights in the design concerned by the IGI Member;
• In addition, IGI strongly recommends to obtain a warranty by the assignor or the licensor (whatever is applicable) of a peaceful use of the concerned design by the IGI Member (and in particular that the concerned design does not breach the IP Rights of third parties).
– The relationship between the design on file and the design eventually produced on the wallcovering;
– A copy of the invoice for the first delivery of the wallcovering containing the design.

2. Designs used for production of wallcoverings on a commission basis
IGI Members shall only accept a design for supply / production of wallcoverings on a commission basis if the commissioner provides the IGI Member with the information referred to under G.1 above including full origin of the design. IGI Members shall keep further records of the designs processed for a commissioner as referred under G.1 above.

By signing the IGI Code of Conduct, IGI Members are committed to strict compliance with these standards.

ANTI TRUST GUIDELINES

Guidelines for Compliance with European Competition Law

IGI is committed to compliance with all applicable laws, including competition laws. These Guidelines highlight a number of key concepts of competition law and how it can be ensured that IGI’s competition compliance policy is observed at all times.Members of IGI should be aware that exchanging commercially sensitive information even in the context of a trade association is a potential breach of European competition law and/or the national competition rules of the EU Member States.

Correspondence, diary entries, personal notes, emails, figures agreed, documents exchanged in meetings can all be taken as evidence by a competition authority.
IGI’s premises as well as the company premises of IGI’s members and the private homes of directors may be searched in an investigation by the European Commission and/or a national competition authority. Violations of competition rules can lead to serious fines on individual members – up to 10% of each member’s individual annual turnover. IGI itself can also be fined – up to 10% of the sum of the total turnover of each infringing member.

Prohibited Activities

It is strictly prohibited for IGI’s members to discuss or agree on the following:

Prices
Agreement on level of prices, agreement to consult on each other’s price lists or terms of sale or to exchange detailed information on each other’s production costs or to agree conditions of sale (such as discounts to be applied).
Market Sharing
Agreeing geographical areas where members will not compete against each other.
Customer Allocation
Allocating customers to whom the members will sell.
Output Restrictions
Agreement to restrict output or to establish quota systems allocating a specific part of the total industry output amongst IGI’s members.
Bids
Agreement on strategy for forthcoming tenders to private and public sector contracts and allocation of bids to individual members.
Commercially Sensitive Information
Exchanging commercially sensitive information (strategy or investment plans, costs, know-how etc.) between competitors such as, for example :
• Sale or purchase prices;
• Terms and conditions of sale;
• Market Shares;
• Company Specific costs;
• Company-specific current and forecast market information;
• Sales output;
• Marketing or production plans.

Permissible Activities

It is permissible for IGI’s members to :

Exchange commercially sensitive information for statistics via an independent organisation which will aggregate the data and ensure that the data is sufficiently historic and that the report guarantees anonymity;
Undertake studies/research on legislative and environmental issues or issues of common concern to the industry;
Share costs for undertaking legitimate projects based on size of companies involved as long as there is no direct link with or exchange of commercially sensitive information such as, for example, market shares that are considered commercially sensitive (rule of thumb: less than 12 months old) or turnover figures that are not public;
Develop industry standards;
Analyse key economic trends;
Promote awareness of use of IGI arbitration and other forms of alternative dispute resolution as an expeditious means of settling intellectual property disputes;
Negotiate preferential terms and conditions for participation in international industry fairs.

Conduct of IGI meetings

Once the agenda has been sent out, members should feel free to consult their legal department if they consider that any topic may involve the disclosure of commercially sensitive information in breach of the competition rules. Any objectionable item should be removed from the agenda with all the members informed of the deletion.
A competition lawyer should be invited to attend a meeting if there are any concerns that the topics may trespass on to sensitive areas for the members.
At the beginning of each meeting it is recommended that the Chairperson remind all members that the meeting is to conform with European competition law and that commercially sensitive information relating to prices, markets, output and commercially sensitive activities are not to be discussed either in the meeting or afterwards by IGI’s Members.
Avoid any presentation or discussion of topics covered by the Prohibited Activities list.
Commercially sensitive information to be used for the compilation of statistics (such as the information listed above in the “Prohibited Activities”) should be provided before the meeting to an independent organisation for onward processing (see detailed rules on preparation of statistics below).
Any member that considers information being provided to the meeting breaches the competition rules should interrupt the meeting and request that the information is not provided. A minute of this objection should be made. The members should not discuss this matter again until a legal opinion has been sought as to whether discussing this matter would be in breach of the competition rules.
If the members continue to discuss a matter that another member considers is in breach of the competition rules, the objecting member should leave the room and have this noted in the minutes.
IGI should draft the minutes of meetings carefully and accurately.

ANTI TRUST GUIDELINES (next)

Preparation of Statistics Report

Statistics prepared in the following manner will be considered as being acceptable under competition law:

Independent Compiler
Commercially sensitive data must not be compiled by a member or representative of a member but only by an independent body that is entirely independent from IGI or any member. Compilation of data should ensure anonymity.
No access to commercially sensitive information
Any commercially sensitive information from individual members collated by IGI or by an independent compiler should not be accessible by the members of IGI.
Computer programmes should be password protected and the paper copies of the sensitive information should be kept in a locked cupboard. A cover note in front of the paper copy should make it clear that the information is not to be disclosed to members.
Aggregated Data
Information compiled from commercially sensitive information should not be so accurate that individual companies’ details are provided or that it is possible for IGI’s members to reverse engineer the results to work out their competitors’ positions.
This means that the data should be compiled by reference to sectors where there are a sufficient number of players. Where there are three players or less in a given market or market segment, it should be discussed with IGI’s external lawyers whether it is necessary that the information is expanded to include other broader markets in order that accurate information is not disclosed. IGI’s external lawyers’ advice must be followed.
Historical Data
Exchanges of aggregate information which is based on commercially sensitive information must relate to past market conditions so that it cannot be used by competitors to determine the future conduct of rivals. As a rule of thumb, such information should be at least a full 12 months old.
Public Data
IGI’s members can be provided with publicly available information. However, publication of individualised commercially sensitive information does not make that information lawful where the information was provided by IGI’s members in the first place (e.g. to an industry magazine).
Information provided in Annual Reports which involve disclosure of output and future conduct etc. should still not be discussed with competitors.
If the data used has been made available through public channels such as official customs or trade reports, it would be useful to make it clear from where the information first appeared.

Drafting Correspondence

In general, correspondence between the members, minutes of meetings, diary entries, notes at meetings, documents handed out at meetings and computer records (including emails) can be copied in the course of an investigation for alleged breach of competition law by the European Commission.
However, correspondence with external lawyers on issues relating to competition law issues may be protected and should be clearly marked by the external lawyers concerned as being subject to legal privilege.
Correspondence with in-house lawyers is not guaranteed protection from the scope of an investigation. Any documents sent to in-house counsel with a view to subsequent obtaining external legal advice on competition law compliance should be clearly marked “Confidential and Legally Privileged – Documents for External Legal Advice”.
In the event of an investigation, IGI or a member should not allow copies to be taken of documents marked as being subject to legal privilege. If there is any doubt, these documents should be placed in a sealed envelope (signed by the company and the European Commission or national competition authority) for the European Courts or national court to determine whether the documents are subject to legal privilege.

ARBITRATION GUIDELINES

Objectives of the IGI Arbitration Committee

Since January 2003, IGI has included an Arbitration Committee as part of its organisational structure. The Arbitration Committee will preside over intellectual property issues.

The purpose of the IGI Arbitration Committee will be:
– to promote awareness of use of IGI arbitration and other forms of alternative dispute resolution as an expeditious and economical means of settling intellectual property disputes
– to provide IGI members with a way to preside over issues affecting the wallcovering industry while avoiding lengthy and expensive time in court over disputes

IGI has put in place a code of conduct for the prevention of illegal copying of designs in the wallcovering industry. As per the IGI Member Code of Conduct , signed by all IGI members upon acceptance into the association, the IGI Members, wallcovering, vinyl or textile wallcovering manufacturers undertake mutually not to copy the designs of any other industry stakeholder by infraction of existing copyright or by any other unfair means.

The decisions made by the IGI Arbitration Committee will be recommendations only and will not be legally binding. IGI will be excluded from any legal responsibility for the decisions made by the Arbitration Committee. Therefore, should parties involved in the IGI Arbitration Committee process contest its decision, they are free to pursue legal proceedings in settling their dispute.

Arbitration Committee Structure
The Arbitration Committee is composed of three members including: the President of the Executive Committee, the Chair of the Marketing Committee and the Chair of the Technical Committee for as long as they hold their term in the respective Committee. The IGI Secretariat will also be part of the Committee structure as a silent observer and recorder of the Committee activities. The IGI Secretariat will not retain any voting rights on the Committee.

– Should the President or Chairs not wish to participate in the IGI Arbitration Committee, it is their responsibility to select a replacement from their respective Committee.

– Should one or more of the Arbitration Committee members be directly involved in a dispute, they will be unable to participate in the arbitration process. In this event, the Arbitration Committee must select a Deputy or Deputies to take their place, uniquely for this case.

The IGI Arbitration Committee will also contain a fourth Committee member in the form of a Deputy. All IGI Members are eligible for the position of IGI Arbitration Committee Deputy. The Deputy will be informed of Arbitration Committee processes and decisions but will only be called upon to arbitrate a dispute should one of the other Committee members be unable to arbitrate a case due to a conflict of interest.

The IGI Arbitration Committee will preside over disputes as a service provided free of charge to parties involved in the case applicable to both IGI members and non-members.

Arbitration Committee Rules and Procedures
The IGI Executive Committee President will act as Chairman of the Arbitration Committee. It is the Arbitration Committee Chairman’s task to convene meetings when he/she receives requests for arbitration.

The plaintiff party refers the matter for dispute to the Chairman and notifies the case at the same time to the defendant as well as the IGI Secretariat.

The Chairman convokes the members of the Arbitration Committee at least 21 days before the meetings. He/She also convokes the two parties via letter within the same time limit. He/She asks the defendant to explain its point of view in writing within a fixed time limit. The defendant will also have to notify its standpoint to the plaintiff.

Individuals involved in a dispute will be asked to present their evidence at a regularly scheduled IGI Arbitration Committee meeting. The IGI Arbitration Committee will review the evidence and make a decision at that time.

Should a dispute needs to be considered urgently, i.e. before a regularly scheduled IGI Arbitration Committee meeting, parties involved in the dispute are asked to send the three Committee representatives evidence in the dispute. The IGI Arbitration Committee will then arrange a tele-conference to discuss the dispute and to swiftly make a decision if necessary.

Before the meeting, the Chairman asks for the complete file relating to the dispute. He has the right to ask for technical advice from the Technical Committee in order to have a clear insight into the problem and the liabilities concerned.

At the oral hearing, the plaintiff is first to be heard. He/She will have to give all the necessary details asked for by the Arbitration Committee. Then the defendant is to be heard. Each party has the right to be assisted or represented by a legal consultant. In the latter case, the legal consultants are also to be heard.

If the plaintiff or defendant or a legal consultant is not present, although having been convoked, the Arbitration Committee reserves the right to make decisions.

Either of both parties can make proposals to the Arbitration Committee to settle the dispute. The task of the Chairman is to conduct the negotiations. If parties waive these, they will not take place.

Decisions
If the Arbitration Committee concludes that there has been an infringement of the engagement of the agreement and if the parties have not reached an agreement on the settlement of the dispute, it can make an award based on the content of the deed.

The Arbitration Committee decides by simple majority of votes.
Each decision taken by the Arbitration Committee will be minuted by the IGI Secretariat and signed by all members of the Committee and provided with arguments supporting the decision. A copy will be sent to each party.

The decisions, which can be taken by the Arbitration Committee, are the following:
– a warning or a blame
– withdrawal of the copy from the market

TECHNICAL COMMITTEE COMPOSITION

Technical Committee 2024 – 2025

The IGI Technical Committee’s purpose is to advise IGI on technical matters of common interest transcending corporate and national boundaries. The committee aims at establishing criteria and standards of performance of wallcoverings when used by the ultimate consumer. It liaises with national and international standards associations and trade associations to ensure the industry’s freedom to trade and to maintain a common industry response on technical matters. The Technical Committee meets 2-3 times a year.

Chair
Paul Vincke (BE)

Committee Members
Olivier Albert (F)
Scenolia / A3P

Karsten Brandt (D)
VDT

Dr. Christian Dams (D)
Marburger Tapetenfabrik
J.B. Schaefer GmbH & Co. KG

Dieter Gunst (B)
Grandeco Group

Rafaele Gussoni (I)
J V SpA

Kerry McLoughlin (UK)
BCF ( British Coatings Federation)

Regi Williams (USA)
Roysons

Associate Member Representatives
Dr. Lucie Garreau (F)
DuPont Tedlar

Lynn Schwarz (D)
Henkel KGaA

Frank Poppensieker (D)
Kämmerer Paper GmbH

Aleksey Etin (LT)
DG Dimense

Dimitri Van Gaever (B)
Xeikon

IGI Technical Consultants
Alison Henshaw (UK)

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE COMPOSITION

Executive Committee 2024-2025

The IGI Executive Committee, working with a high level participation and support from IGI members is committed to address common goals such as ethical practices, quality standards, aesthetics, functionality, and innovation, and believe they can solve global problems more effectively. The Executive Committee meets 3 – 4 times a year.

President
James Watson (UK)
Surface Print

Committee Members
Maximilian Bercher (D)
Erismann & Cie GmbH

Philippe Debruyne (B)
Decoprint

Ming Hu (CN)
Ningbo Bonny Wallcoverings

Mauro Jannelli (I)
J&V

Gary Rizzo (USA)
Roysons

Pascal Siellet (FR)
UGEPA

Associate Member Representatives
Jean-Loup Duran (FR)
Ahlstrom

Michael Hottenträger (D)
Kämmerer Paper GmbH

Ruud Sturme (NL)
Canon

Technical Committee Chair
Paul Vincke (BE)

IGI Executive Director
Géraldine de Limelette (B)

Guests
Kartsen Brandt (D)- VDT
Alison Henshaw ( UK) – IGI Technical Consultant