Download English translation of the Dutch Covenant

The Convenant Vertaalsector Nederland (informally, the Dutch Covenant) explains what freelance translators and translation agencies in the Netherlands typically consider good practice in their dealings with each other. This gives freelance translators in the Netherlands a better idea of what translation agencies in the Netherlands expect of them, and vice versa. It is also a way for local translators to hold local translation agencies accountable for unethical behaviour and/or questionable business practices. In addition, the Dutch Covenant can help newcomers to the industry learn what translators and agencies typically expect of each other.

Representatives from the four contributing societies [1] met several times over the course of three years to discuss what their members consider best practices. The Dutch Covenant was created in the spirit of the original Hungarian Covenant, although it differs from it in many ways to reflect the Dutch freelance translator environment.

The English translation of the Dutch Covenant was commissioned and paid for by SENSE, the Society of English-language professionals in the Netherlands (one of the four societies involved in creating the original Dutch Covenant). We at SENSE did this to make the Dutch Covenant more accessible to translation associations worldwide. We hope that other associations will use it as a basis for their own discussions, negotiations and agreements between industry stakeholders.

If you represent a translators’ association, please feel free to distribute this English translation, adapt it for your association’s own purposes, or use it as the basis for discussions between translators and translation agencies in your region.

Click the blue ‘View’ button above to download SENSE’s English translation of the Dutch Covenant. The original Dutch version is also available, here. Some historical background and a short FAQ about the Dutch Covenant can be viewed here.

The English translation is licensed under the Creative Commons CC BY Licence. To view a copy of the licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

[1] The four societies involved in creating the Dutch Covenant were the Netherlands Association of Interpreting and Translation Agencies (VViN), the Netherlands Association of Interpreters and Translators (NGTV), the Dutch Freelance Translators’ Association (VZV) and the Society of English-language professionals in the Netherlands (SENSE).