The terms of membership.

1. Acceptance of Terms

These Terms of Service (the “Terms”) govern your access to and use of the website, member platform, services, and content of The Global Trade Management Network (“The GTM Network”, “we”, “our”, or “us”). By submitting an application, accessing the website, or using the network in any capacity, you (“you”, “Member”, or “Applicant”) agree to be bound by these Terms, our Privacy Policy, and our Code of Conduct, each of which is incorporated by reference. If you do not agree, you must not access or use the network.

2. Definitions

• “Network” means the private, vetted professional community known as The GTM Network and all related websites, platforms, and services we operate.
• “Member” means an individual whose application has been approved and who has access to the Network.
• “Applicant” means any individual who has submitted an application to join the Network.
• “Member Content” means any post, message, file, question, answer, comment, document, or other material a Member contributes to the Network.
• “Content” means all material published by us within the Network, including weekly briefings, articles, and reference materials.

3. Eligibility

To apply for membership, you must:

• Be at least eighteen (18) years of age;
• Be a working professional in trade compliance, customs, global trade management, supply chain, or a closely related discipline;
• Provide accurate and complete information in your application;
• Have the legal capacity to enter into a binding contract.

We reserve the right to refuse, suspend, or revoke membership at any time and without notice for any reason permitted by law, including failure to meet eligibility criteria, breach of these Terms or the Code of Conduct, or any conduct we determine, in our sole discretion, to be incompatible with the integrity of the Network.

4. Application and Membership

4.1 Membership is by application only. Submission of an application does not guarantee admission.

4.2 We may, in our sole discretion, accept, reject, or place on hold any application based on factors including the Applicant’s professional background, role, alignment with the Network’s purpose, and compliance with applicable laws and sanctions.

4.3 A material proportion of applications may be declined to maintain the integrity, focus, and value of the Network. Decisions are final, but a previously rejected Applicant may re-apply at our discretion.

4.4 Membership is personal to the individual and is non-transferable. You may not share your account with any third party or permit any third party to act under your account.

5. License and Permitted Use

Subject to your continued compliance with these Terms, we grant you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable, and non-sublicensable license to access and use the Network for your internal professional purposes only.

You may not:

• Reproduce, distribute, publicly display, or publish any Content or Member Content outside the Network;
• Use the Network or any Content for the development, training, or evaluation of any artificial-intelligence model, machine-learning system, or large-language model, except as expressly authorized by us in writing;
• Reverse engineer, decompile, or attempt to derive the source code of any platform we operate;
• Use the Network for marketing, recruiting, prospecting, lead generation, or any commercial purpose unrelated to your participation as a trade compliance professional;
• Bypass any technical protection measure, access restriction, or rate limit;
• Use any automated means, including bots, scrapers, or crawlers, to access or extract Network data.

6. Member Content and Intellectual Property

6.1 All Content published by us, including its selection, arrangement, and design, is owned by us or our licensors and is protected by intellectual property laws.

6.2 You retain ownership of the Member Content you submit. By submitting Member Content, you grant The GTM Network a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive, sublicensable, perpetual license to host, store, display, distribute, modify, translate, and use the Member Content within the Network and for the Network’s operation, security, integrity, and improvement.

6.3 You represent and warrant that you have all rights necessary to submit Member Content and that such Member Content does not infringe any third-party right or violate any law, contract, or non-disclosure obligation owed to your employer, client, or any other person.

6.4 You acknowledge that you submit Member Content at your own risk and that we are not obliged to monitor, edit, or remove Member Content, although we reserve the right to do so.

7. Confidentiality

7.1 Member Confidentiality Obligations

All discussions, documents, and information shared inside the Network, including in posts, threads, live sessions, briefings, and direct member communications, are strictly confidential. By accepting these Terms, you agree:

• Not to disclose, publish, screenshot, record, post on social media, summarize for the public, or otherwise share outside the Network any Member Content, identity of contributors, or non-public information you obtain through the Network;
• To use such information solely for your own internal professional benefit;
• To take reasonable care to prevent unauthorized access to, copying of, or distribution of such information;
• That this confidentiality obligation continues indefinitely and survives termination of your membership.

7.2 Limited Disclosure

You may disclose Network information only:

• With the prior written consent of the contributor and us;
• To the extent strictly required by law, regulation, court order, or competent authority, in which case you will, where lawful and practicable, give us prompt prior notice; or
• To your professional advisors who are bound by equivalent confidentiality obligations and have a legitimate need to know.

7.3 No Privileged or Restricted Information

You acknowledge and agree that you are responsible for ensuring you do not share within the Network any information that would breach a non-disclosure agreement, employment obligation, attorney-client privilege, sanctions or export-control obligation, competition-law restriction, or any other legal or contractual restriction binding on you.

8. Acceptable Use

You agree not to use the Network to:

• Solicit business, sell products or services, recruit candidates, generate leads, or conduct any marketing activity;
• Disclose, request, or trade in confidential or non-public information that you are not authorized to share;
• Disclose or solicit information whose exchange would violate sanctions, export controls, anti-bribery, anti-money-laundering, competition, or any other applicable law;
• Engage in conduct that is unlawful, fraudulent, defamatory, harassing, threatening, hateful, sexually explicit, or otherwise harmful;
• Impersonate any person or misrepresent your identity, affiliation, or qualifications;
• Distribute malware, viruses, or any harmful code;
• Interfere with or disrupt the Network, related infrastructure, or any other Member’s access;
• Violate the Code of Conduct.

9. Suspension and Termination

9.1 We may suspend or terminate your access at any time, with or without notice, if we determine in our sole discretion that you have breached these Terms, the Privacy Policy, the Code of Conduct, or any applicable law, or that your conduct may harm the Network, its Members, or any third party.

9.2 You may terminate your membership at any time by notifying us at [email protected].

9.3 Upon termination:

• Your access to the Network will cease;
• Your obligations under Sections 5 (Permitted Use), 6 (IP), 7 (Confidentiality), 10 (Disclaimers), 11 (Limitation of Liability), 12 (Indemnification), 17 (Governing Law), 18 (Dispute Resolution), and any other provisions intended by their nature to survive termination, will continue in full force and effect.

10. Disclaimers

10.1 No Professional or Legal Advice

The Network and all Content and Member Content are provided for general informational and educational purposes only and do not constitute legal, tax, accounting, customs, regulatory, financial, or any other professional advice. You should obtain specific advice from a qualified professional in your jurisdiction before acting on any information you obtain through the Network.

10.2 No Warranty

The network, content, and member content are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis, without representation or warranty of any kind, express, implied, or statutory, including without limitation warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, reliability, completeness, non-infringement, or uninterrupted or error-free operation. We make no representation or warranty about the conduct of any member or third party.

11. Limitation of Liability

11.1 To the maximum extent permitted by law, in no event will the GTM Network, its affiliates, or its personnel be liable to you for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special, exemplary, or punitive damages, including without limitation lost profits, lost revenue, lost data, or business interruption, arising out of or in connection with your access to or use of the network, regardless of the legal theory or whether we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.

11.2 To the maximum extent permitted by law, our total cumulative liability arising out of or relating to your access to or use of the network shall not exceed the greater of (i) any fees you have paid to us in the twelve (12) months preceding the event giving rise to the claim, or (ii) one hundred UAE dirhams (AED 100).

11.3 Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations or exclusions of liability; in such jurisdictions, our liability shall be limited to the maximum extent permitted by law.

12. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless The GTM Network, its affiliates, and their respective directors, officers, employees, and agents from and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or related to: (i) your breach of these Terms, the Privacy Policy, or the Code of Conduct; (ii) your Member Content; or (iii) your violation of any applicable law or third-party right.

13. Third-Party Services

The Network may incorporate or link to third-party services, websites, or content. We do not control and are not responsible for any third-party service, and your use of any such service is governed by the applicable third-party terms.

14. AI Tools and Features

We may, from time to time, make available artificial-intelligence-enabled features, including content summarization, search, drafting assistance, and similar tools. You acknowledge that:

• AI-generated outputs may be inaccurate, incomplete, or out of date and must not be relied upon as authoritative;
• You are solely responsible for verifying any AI-generated output before relying on it;
• We may use anonymized and aggregated data to improve the AI features;
• We will not use your Member Content to train external third-party AI models without your explicit consent or as expressly permitted by these Terms.

15. Modifications to the Service

We may, at any time and without liability, modify, suspend, or discontinue any part of the Network, including features, content, and access levels.

16. Modifications to These Terms

We may amend these Terms from time to time. We will post the updated Terms with a new “Effective Date”. Material changes will be notified to active Members. Your continued use of the Network after the Effective Date constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

17. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms and any non-contractual obligations arising out of or in connection with them are governed by the laws of the Emirate of Dubai and the federal laws of the United Arab Emirates, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles. Subject to Section 18, the courts of Dubai have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising out of or in connection with these Terms.

18. Dispute Resolution

18.1 The parties shall first attempt in good faith to resolve any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms through informal negotiation, by contacting [email protected].

18.2 If the dispute is not resolved within thirty (30) days of written notice, the parties may agree in writing to submit the dispute to binding arbitration in Dubai under the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC) Rules. The seat of arbitration shall be Dubai. The language of the arbitration shall be English. The arbitral award shall be final and binding on both parties.

18.3 Notwithstanding the above, either party may seek interim or injunctive relief in any competent court to protect intellectual property, confidential information, or other urgent rights.

19. Miscellaneous

• Entire agreement. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and Code of Conduct, constitute the entire agreement between you and us regarding the subject matter and supersede any prior agreement.
• Severability. If any provision is held invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.
• No waiver. A failure or delay by us in exercising any right or remedy is not a waiver of that right or remedy.
• Assignment. You may not assign these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign these Terms to any affiliate or successor.
• Force majeure. We are not liable for any failure or delay caused by circumstances beyond our reasonable control.
• No agency. Nothing in these Terms creates any partnership, joint venture, employment, or agency relationship.
• Notices. We may give notice by email, in-Network notice, or website posting. You may give notice to us at [email protected].
• Language. These Terms are drafted in English. Any translation is provided for convenience; in the event of any conflict, the English version prevails.

20. Contact

For any question about these Terms, contact:

The Global Trade Management Network (“The GTM Network”)
Email: [email protected]