"Progetto Fiducia Federcomin" (Federcomin E-Confidence Project) is an initiative for both companies and consumers. Its objective is that of promoting the trust of both company and consumer in the use of the electronic commerce network.

Federcomin - the Federation of Confindustria (Italian Manufacturers' Association) for telecommunication, radio television and information companies - launched this initiative in October 2001, in the conviction that development of electronic commerce is an important factor for the competitiveness of the Country on the international stage.

The initiative is completely free, both for the consumers making use of the service and for companies adhering to the project. Furthermore, they need not necessarily be members of Federcomin or Confindustria.

"Progetto Fiducia Federcomin" is based on adhering companies signing a Code of Conduct which commits them to respect certain regulations regarding transparency, security and confidentiality aimed at guaranteeing that electronic commerce is secure and safe for use by the final users.

Companies wishing to adhere send an application, and after having formally committed to respect the Code, receive authorisation to display the "Federcomin Membership Trustmark" which consists of a logo to be inserted into the Home Page or Shopping Page where on-line shopping is carried out. Furthermore, as a guarantee of registration and signing of the Code of Conduct, the company's name is inserted into a list of all adhering companies on the "Progetto Fiducia Federcomin" website.

Signing of the Code of Conduct and the presence of the Federcomin Membership Trustmark guarantees that the company sticks to certain principles and ethics, and assures potential customers that on-line transactions will be made with complete security and honesty on the part of the seller. The Code of Conduct does not cover, however, issues of quality or reliability of either goods or services on offer.

Should a consumer notice that any one of the rules contained in the Code is not respected on the part of a "Progetto Fiducia Federcomin", a complaint should be sent via email to the company itself.

Following this, in the case that the time lapse for response exceeds that indicated by the company, or the response received is held to be unsatisfactory, the consumer may forward the complaint to the "Progetto Fiducia Federcomin", following the procedures available from the website.

Complaints are put before the "Trust Committee" which sets in motion an investigation to evaluate and verify breaches of the regulations which may have taken place. In the case that these are found to have occurred, sanctions are issued against the company not complying with the Code of Conduct, and ultimately it may be removed from the list of member companies.

At present, "Progetto Fiducia Federcomin" is available only for Italian companies and consumers.