https://github.com/getbindu/regulations
Open, machine-evaluable encoding of trade and product compliance regulations as DMN models. Powers Shelley and other Bindu products.
https://github.com/getbindu/regulations
Last synced: 3 months ago
JSON representation
Open, machine-evaluable encoding of trade and product compliance regulations as DMN models. Powers Shelley and other Bindu products.
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/getbindu/regulations
- Owner: GetBindu
- License: mit
- Created: 2026-04-27T19:39:39.000Z (3 months ago)
- Default Branch: main
- Last Pushed: 2026-04-28T07:47:21.000Z (3 months ago)
- Last Synced: 2026-04-28T08:31:57.046Z (3 months ago)
- Language: JavaScript
- Size: 82 KB
- Stars: 1
- Watchers: 0
- Forks: 0
- Open Issues: 2
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- Contributing: docs/CONTRIBUTING.md
- License: LICENSE
- Codeowners: .github/CODEOWNERS
- Security: SECURITY.md
Awesome Lists containing this project
README
# Bindu Regulations
> A fixed point of truth for the rules that move products across borders.
> Community-built. Free to read. Free to fix.
---
## Imagine this
You make wooden toys in a workshop in Jaipur. A buyer in Berlin wants 500 of them.
Before they arrive in Germany, the toys have to clear a long list of rules: how the paint is tested, what the label says, who's named on the box, what paperwork the importer keeps for ten years.
Those rules exist. They are written down. But they live across:
- A 92-page EU directive
- A 1,400-page chemicals regulation
- A guidance PDF nobody can find
- A spreadsheet on someone's laptop
- The head of a customs officer who is about to retire
This repository takes those rules out of all those places and writes them down in one shape, in one spot, that a computer can read and a human can check.
That's it. That's the whole project.
---
## What's in here
Think of it like a cookbook.
Each **recipe** is one regulation. The recipe says:
- **When this rule applies.** ("If the toy is for kids under 14...")
- **What you have to do.** ("...you need a paint migration test report.")
- **Where it says so.** ("Article 4, EU Directive 2009/48/EC.")
Recipes are stored as plain text files (YAML) so anyone — a customs officer, a compliance lawyer, a curious parent — can open one and read it. No special software needed. A web browser will do.
Today the cookbook has **one recipe**: the EU's toy safety rules. More are on the way. The plan, in plain English: toys → chemicals → product safety → electronics → textiles → cosmetics. We're starting with the rules that affect the most shipments first.
---
## Who this is for
- **People shipping things into Europe** — to find out what they actually need.
- **Customs officers, compliance specialists, lawyers** — to spot mistakes and fix them.
- **Regulators** — to see how their rules are being applied in the real world.
- **Software builders** — to plug these rules into their own products. (That's how [getbindu.com](https://getbindu.com) uses them.)
- **Anyone curious** — to read the law without paying a consultant.
---
## Why it's open
Rules made by governments are public. They belong to everyone. Yet figuring out which rule applies to your shipment usually costs €500 an hour.
We don't think the *rules* should cost anything. The *help applying them* can be a product. The rules themselves should be a free, shared resource — like a library, or Wikipedia, or a public road.
If a rule in here is wrong, the world should be able to see it and fix it. No NDA. No login. No paywall.
---
## How you can help
You don't need to be a programmer.
**Found a mistake?**
[Open an issue](https://github.com/GetBindu/regulations/issues/new/choose). Tell us what's wrong. Point at the law. We'll handle the rest.
**Know a rule we're missing?**
Same thing — open an issue. Tell us the regulation, the country, and what you know about it.
**Want to write a recipe yourself?**
Read [`docs/CONTRIBUTING.md`](./docs/CONTRIBUTING.md). It walks you through it step-by-step. If you'd rather click than type, head to [getbindu.com](https://getbindu.com) — there's a web tool there where you fill in a form and it writes the recipe for you.
**Just want to read?**
Browse the [`regulations/`](./regulations/) folder. Every file is human-readable. The cookbook is yours to explore.
---
## How it works (in 30 seconds)
1. Someone — you, a contributor, a regulator — adds or fixes a rule in a YAML file.
2. A robot checks: is the rule well-formed? Does the law it cites actually exist? Do the example cases still pass?
3. If yes, the change goes in. If no, the robot says what's wrong and the change waits.
4. Tools at [getbindu.com](https://getbindu.com) (and anyone else's, too) read the latest rules and use them to help importers do their paperwork.
Same input, same output, every time. No surprises. Every "yes / no / you need this document" answer can be traced back to a specific line of a specific law.
---
## A note on trust
This project is early. The rules in here have been written carefully and cite real laws, but they are **not legal advice.** If a shipment is on the line, double-check with a qualified specialist.
Where a rule is incomplete or uncertain, we say so out loud — look for the `todos:` block at the top of each recipe. We'd rather flag what we don't know than pretend we know everything.
---
## The fine print
- **License:** [MIT](./LICENSE). The encoding is free to use. The laws themselves are public — nobody owns them.
- **Maintained by:** the team at [getbindu.com](https://getbindu.com), with help from anyone who shows up.
- **Built on:** an open standard called [DMN](https://www.omg.org/dmn/) for decision rules.
- **Questions?** Open an issue. We read all of them.
---
*Compliance is a maze. This is one team trying to draw the map. Come help.*