About the Salt Association

Members agree to contribute actively to the functioning of the Association by devoting time and professional resources to the board, committees and working groups, as needed. The persons whom they appoint agree to co-operate fully and keep confidential the content of discussions in which they take part.

The Association will give priority to reaching consensus between members and will at all times maintain a neutral position in relation to members’ interests.

The working documents presented at meetings, the discussions of the committees and working groups, internal position papers and voting positions are to be regarded as confidential and shall not be communicated to or commented upon to third parties.

It is Association policy to honour both the letter and the spirit of national and international Competition Laws both when acting under the umbrella of the Association and in private dealings between members. Members agree to avoid any topic of conversation that could be misconstrued as anti-competitive.

In Association meetings, any member who considers that a discussion compromises that position should immediately register their concern to the minutes and leave the meeting if the discussion is not immediately terminated.
Individual items of information which come to the attention of members must not be communicated to other members, except in the form of aggregated or synthesised reports.

Care must be taken to ensure that such information does not compromise the Competition Law responsibilities of other members.

Members will conduct their activities with the utmost responsibility and integrity and will implement best practice throughout their operations, in particular in the fields of environment, health, employee safety, product safety and competition law.

They will, at all times, maintain the highest levels of integrity, business ethics and competitive fairness. Members declare that their operations will be conducted in full compliance with domestic, national and international regulatory requirements.

Association members are opposed to any form of bribery or attempted bribery which could undermine free and open competition.

In cases of doubt regarding any gifts, offers of entertainment, favours, hospitality, or other privileges, employees must obtain the approval of their supervisor or Compliance Officer.

Members are committed to ensuring human safety and health and taking all possible actions to prevent injuries associated with salt activities (mining, harvesting, manufacturing, distribution, use and disposal practices), and anything which could harm the health of their employees, customers or local communities.

Members are encouraged to share openly information on accidents and near-misses which might enable other members to implement actions to avoid similar incidents.

Members are committed to a sustainable improvement in the working conditions, identifying and promoting constantly all that relates to good manufacturing practices.

Members are committed to adapt and upgrade the skills of their employees with regard to health, safety, the environment and product quality.

They recognise that training is crucial for coping with new developments in technology and production processes.

The responsible care of the environment and of natural resources are essential principles of Members’ business practices.

Members are committed to meeting the requirements for environment protection by preventing or reducing the impact of their surface and underground mining, harvesting and other activities and continuously improving performance and management systems to this end.

Members are committed to deliver quality products to consumers and other users.

Targeted research, standardisation, certification, education and training contribute to quality assurance.

Accordingly, they take all necessary measures to ensure product compliance with relevant legal requirements, most especially for food grade salt.

Members are committed to supply salt of merchantable quality and in accordance with British and other relevant standards. In particular, these will include:

• De-icing Salt BS3247
• Food Grade Salt BS998
• Codex Standard (CODEX STAN 150) for food salt
• 97% minimum NaCl content for food grade salt
• Water Softening BS EN 973
• Analysis methods BS 7319 pts 1-12 (analysis methods – front page only)

Each member company will bear full responsibility for its own strategic and operating decisions.

No decision made by the Association shall be deemed to bind a member or overcome the principle of autonomy of each member.

If a member considers that it is no longer able to comply with this Code of Practice, that member must resign from the Association.