The National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors has released a set of proposed standards for participation agreements for e-marketplaces. The standards were developed by an NAW task force composed of several leading distributors of MRO supplies, including McJunkin Corp., representing the PHCP industry.

During the past year, a number of e-marketplaces have been established to bring together sellers and buyers of MRO supplies. However, actual operations of these e-marketplaces have been delayed and many distributors, manufacturers and other sellers have balked at providing their products for sale on the e-marketplaces. One big roadblock to implementation has been the multiple, individual agreement forms for supplier participation developed by the e-marketplaces. These forms frequently contain terms that are ill suited for commerce, and individual negotiations of these agreements have been expensive and time-consuming.