First, every country has its own set of laws and
regulations for products. What we make for the United States
or Canada isn’t necessarily suitable for
Malaysia,
Russia,
or a remote island in the South Pacific. Or the other way
around. When
Amway Global opens for business somewhere, it
learns the regulations and then formulates products to fit
that market. Products not formulated for the market are
prohibited and can get you and them into a lot of trouble.
Second, every country has customs laws for importing
products. When you ship a product or a box of products, you
have to obey those laws. When Amway Global operates in a
market, it either manufactures in the market or ships
products to the market, handling all the customs issues at
once. You can get into trouble and get them into trouble by
shipping products into a country on your own without
observing customs regulations.
Third, Amway Global sells products in a country taking
into consideration that market’s customs and marketing
trends. When you ship in products, not only are you
circumventing the company’s business strategy, you are also
undoing a great deal of good will built up with local
authorities and sensibilities. Furthermore, product labeling
and trademarks may not be suitable for the new market and
may, in fact, be detrimental to it. In a new market, you may
cause irreparable harm.
Although sending products to another country may not
seem like a big deal, it really is. Amway Global spends
millions of dollars and thousands of man-hours to develop a
market and introduce a product. They do it so that when you
walk in, everything is ready to begin business.
In this instance, the IBO Best Practice is guided by
Rule 4.16 of the
Rules of Conduct:
No IBO may export or import, or knowingly sell to
others who import or export, the Corporation’s products from
the United States or its possessions or territories, or from
any other country in which it has established operations,
into any country regardless of whether or not the
Corporation is doing business in that country.
