Code of Conduct

Section I

Conduct Principles

I – FIP Officials are members of the FIP Board, members of the FIP Philatelic Commissions, FIP Judges and FIP Commissioners. Employees are under contract, and receive specific salaries for their work serving FIP.

I – Dignity, honor, efficacy and moral principles are priorities to guide FIP Officials and Employees on the fulfillment of their duties at all times. Their behavior shall always address preservation of a tradition of service to FIP.

II – FIP Officials and Employees must keep ethics in mind in each and every situation. Decisions must be made that look beyond the legal and or the convenient aspect of each case.

III – FIP Officials and Employees must bear in mind that the collective interest must be associated with moral principles of a case. An equilibrium between legality and purpose shall be taken into account to assure that any administrative act is done under moral principles.

IV – FIP Officials and Employees shall bear in mind that their professional reputation is determined by their behavior on the job on a day to day basis.

V – Openness in any administrative act is a general and moral requirement. The omission of such step shall be seen as a failure of the collective welfare with possible penalties at discretion of FIP Board.

VI – Anyone requiring or using any FIP services shall always be treated with courtesy and care.

VII – FIP Officials and Employees should not let anyone requiring FIP Services wait for an excessive time for solutions and should not create any delays or postpone the delivery of the service.

VIII – FIP Officials when on duty and Employees must be aware that they are representatives of the FIP Board, and they must respond to guidance by their supervisors.

IX - FIP Officials and Employees shall be cooperative with their superiors and colleagues to maintain strong accountability to FIP.

Section II

Duties of the FIP Officials and Employees

X – FIP Officials and Employees shall:

• a) be rapid, correct and objective in the fulfillment of their duties and other commitments;
• b) be honest, loyal and fair, always seeking the collective welfare when making decisions;
• c) never delay presentation of any financial or expense report;
• d) be alert to identify opportunities to improve FIP public services;
• e) be conscious that ethics are required in the execution of work responsibilities;
• f) be courteous, available and attentive with regard to the general public and colleagues. Do not incur or accept the practice of racial, religious, sexual, political and or social discrimination;
• g) although always respecting the hierarchy, officials should never be afraid to discuss problems with FIP Board;.
• h) do not accept any pressure from the hierarchy, from contractors, from vendors and/or from others who want to obtain undue benefits or advantages involving FIP interests and/or the FIP reputation;
• i) be prompt in their duties being conscious that non-performance has a negative impact on the system;
• j) inform the superiors immediately upon knowledge of any act or fact contrary to the interests of FIP;
• k) participate in the initiatives seeking the improvement of the services and of implementation of all FIP regulations;
• l) allow and facilitate the inspection and/or auditing of all services after being sure that the individual is duly authorized to perform the job;
• m) do not abuse any existing official prerogatives;
• n) do not make use of their position, function, or authority on anyone other than those related to FIP functions;
• o) keep confidentiality of all official information, unless required by Law, understanding they are obliged to always preserve and defend FIP rights;
• p) do not ignore any public interactions expected from any FIP representative, with regard to dress and personal appearance.

Section III

Restrictions to FIP Officials and Employees

XI - It is forbidden for all FIP Officials and Employees:

• a) to cause harm to the reputation of other FIP Officials and other relevant individuals;
• b) to collude with somebody else or to disregard this Code of Ethics or any other legal regulation;
• c) to use any resource to impede or to harm the rights of any person with regard to FIP, or to cause moral or material damage to such a person;
• d) to practice or to submit to preconceived acts, discrimination, threats, extortion, false statements, moral or sexual harassment, or any other act contrary to the principles of this Code of Ethics. FIP Officials and Employees shall inform to the proper authority about any transgressions;
• e) to allow persecution, sympathy or averse feelings, obstinacy, passions or personal interest intervene in the relations with FIP public, associates and/or with the colleagues or superiors;
• f) to ask for, to induce, to suggest or to receive any type of financial assistance, gratuities, premiums, commissions, donations or other assets for themselves, for members of their respective families or any other related persons, in order to perform their job or to influence colleagues;
• g) to alter or to change the content of documents which pass through their hands;
• h) to induce any colleague to deviate from their duties in order to benefit for themselves privately;
• i) to take or to borrow any FIP documents, books or assets without an appropriate authorization;
• j) to make use of privileged information to obtain undue benefits for themselves, or for relatives, friends or others;
• k) to be involved in any activity which conflicts with FIP interests or to omit information to their superiors regarding any situation which seems to represent a conflict of interest for FIP;
• l) to participate in or to extend support to any institution which acts against moral, honesty or dignity of the human being;
• o) to alter written facts or to act in a bad faith attitude.