Platform charter

Al-Ukaz exists so that a buyer anywhere can find a Pakistani manufacturer and believe what they see. That only works if the standard behind a listing is consistent, and if it is applied whether or not it is convenient. This charter sets out what we hold ourselves to, and what we ask of members.

What verification means here

Verification is conducted at the level of the company, not the individual product or certificate. A member is reviewed as a business — its legal existence, its premises, its capacity — and that review is what a buyer is relying on.

• Al-Ukaz administers the standard and applies it. Our own verification team reviews the company and approves the listing; where a chamber of commerce can corroborate a member's standing we use that, but it is not a condition of membership.
• Documents are checked against the body that issued them, rather than accepted because they were uploaded.
• Verification is not permanent. It is reviewed on an ongoing basis, and can be withdrawn.
• A listing goes public only after it has cleared review. Changes to an approved profile are reviewed before they are published.

What a listing must represent

• Genuine manufacturing or supply capability that the member actually has — not capability it intends to acquire, and not capability it brokers from someone else without saying so.
• Capacity, certifications and product detail that are accurate at the time of publication, and corrected when they change.
• One company, one profile. Members do not hold multiple listings to appear larger than they are.

Members are responsible for the accuracy of what they publish. Where we find a listing misrepresents a business, we will require it to be corrected, and we will remove it if it is not.

What we will not do

• We do not take a commission on deals closed between a member and a buyer.
• We do not charge bidding fees to compete for an enquiry.
• We do not sell member contact details.
• We do not verify a company because it is well known, well connected, or in a hurry. The standard is the standard.

What members decide for themselves

Commercial terms are between a member and its buyer. Members set their own prices, minimum order quantities, payment terms and target markets. Al-Ukaz does not price your goods, does not negotiate on your behalf, and is not party to your contracts.

Our obligations to members

• To apply the same standard to every applicant, and to say plainly why when we decline one.
• To give a member the opportunity to correct a profile before it is removed, except where a listing is fraudulent.
• To be clear about what is verified and what is self-declared, so a buyer is never misled about which is which.
• To hold member data as described in our privacy notice, and not to trade in it.

Standing of this document

This charter states how the platform operates and what we expect of members. It is not a substitute for the terms of use, which set out the binding contractual position and will be published before public launch. Where the two ever appear to conflict, the terms of use govern.