Washington, D.C. —The National Assn. of Wholesaler-Distributors released a set of proposed standards for participation agreements for e-marketplaces. The standards were developed by an NAW task force made up of several leading distributors of MRO supplies, including Applied Industrial Technologies, McJunkin Corp., WESCO Distribution, Wilson Supply, Cameron & Barkley (a Hagemeyer N. A. company), and Vallen Corp. (a Hagemeyer N. A. company). NAW is making these voluntary standards available to all suppliers and marketplaces so that they may be adopted by individual suppliers and marketplaces.

A number of e-marketplaces for MRO supplies have been established to bring together sellers and buyers of products and services. However, actual operations of these e-marketplaces have been delayed and many companies have not agreed to provide their products for sale on the e-marketplaces.

One of the greatest impediments to implementation has been the multiple, individual agreement forms for supplier participation developed by the e-marketplaces. Many of the terms of these agreements are ill-suited for commerce, according to NAW and others. Also, individual negotiations with e-marketplaces to create individual participation agreements have been expensive and time-consuming.

Therefore, the NAW task force was formed to develop standards for supplier participation agreements for e-marketplaces that would promote adoption of non-price terms acceptable to both the participants and the e-marketplaces.

"These proposed standards, if adopted, will bring a new level of uniformity and conformity," said vice president of strategic direction Ron Schreibman. "It is positive for all parties concerned. It is important for all parties involved in the supply channel to be aware of these standards."

The standards set forth provisions concerning: restrictions on use of content and data made available to the e-marketplace; intellectual property rights of the supplier and the e-marketplace; individual authorizations of customers for each supplier; and standard confidentiality and security protections for suppliers and their customers, including protection of confidential transaction data. NAW says the standards also "provide a balanced approach to common issues such as warranty, liability, amendments and termination that is intended to promote the rapid negotiation and execution of participation agreements for e-marketplaces."

The standards are available on NAW's website: www.nawpubs.org/taskforce.html