Neiman Marcus 2002 Annual Report Download - page 150

correspondence involving the express or implied acceptance of an offer, as well as to formal contracts. It is the Company's policy to
formalize all agreements in writing; exceptions to this rule may be made under certain circumstances, but only with the Legal Department's prior
approval. Every new agreement must be approved by the Legal Department unless an identical form agreement has been previously
approved.
Unless it is inappropriate under the circumstances, the Company, and not the other contracting party, should take the
initiative in preparing agreements. To this end, the Legal Department should be conferred with at the earliest opportunity, even at the
earliest stages of negotiation, so that it may function in a timely manner to anticipate legal problems and to work constructively with
management personnel rather than having to react later under unnecessary time constraints.
TERMINATING AGREEMENTS
Periodically, the Company may wish to terminate an agreement before it is due to expire. Sometimes the Company has the
right to take this action unilaterally; at other times, termination must be by consent of both parties. In either event, because it can give
rise to certain liabilities that may not be readily apparent, termination of an agreement is as critical as execution of an agreement.
Therefore, no agreement shall be terminated (before the agreement would normally expire by its terms) by anyone on behalf of the
Company or any of its subsidiaries without the Legal Department's prior approval.
PRODUCT SAFETY
The Company is committed to complying with all applicable product safety laws and regulations. Although the
Company's vendors or ultimately responsible for ensuring the safety and usability of their products, the Company must take
steps to ensure that their products indeed satisfy applicable legal requirements. Such steps protect the Company's reputation
and customer relationships, and limit the risk of potential legal liability.
While not an exhaustive list, some of the most pertinent requirements to ensure product safety include:
FLAMMABILITY STANDARDS
Textiles used to manufacture clothing sold in the United States must meet required flammability standards. Commonly used
fabrics subject to these standards include rayon, sheer fabrics and highly napped fabrics such as chenille, velour and cotton terry cloth.
In addition, stricter standards apply for fabrics used in children's sleepwear. Employees involved in buying apparel made from such
fabrics are responsible for obtaining from vendors copies of test results indicating that the fabrics used in clothing sold to the
Company meet the flammability standards. Alternatively, vendors may provide copies of applicable Continuing Guarantees of
compliance filed by them with the Consumer Products Safety Commission.
CHILDREN'S TOYS
Toys and other children's items that present potential choking or ingestion hazards must be properly labeled to identify that
they are not intended for use by children under three (3) years of age. In addition, electrically operated toys or other electrical products
intended for use by children must meet applicable regulations. Finally, the surfaces of toys and other items intended for use by
children must not be
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