Promotion and protection

The Bulgarian Association of Professional Translation Agencies (BAPITA) was formed with the joint efforts of four leading translation companies in Bulgaria.

Amongst the main objectives defined by the Bulgarian translators association, there is the wish to “promote and protect the professional ethical standards” as well as “to propose legislative initiatives” related with the activity of translation and interpreting in the country. The organisation is the representing body of its members’ interests before government and other authorities, international organisations and companies. BAPITA is committed to working actively to improve the quality of translation services.

For the future, the translation association foresees the introduction of professional liability insurance, the provision of technical assistance in preparation of sensitive documentation, development of educational and training programmes that better serve the needs of the professional market.

The services offered by BAPITA include translation, editing and proofreading of written materials in languages specified the customer, formatting and layout of written material, simultaneous translation between languages specified by the customer, consecutive translation under the same conditions as the afore-mentioned and provision of technical equipment for simultaneous translation on request.

Quality is a priority for the Bulgarian translators association. The contractor will always provide its services under the best practices of translation and interpretation in accordance with the customer’s requirements. He will also respect deadlines and make every effort to replace an interpreter at work when necessary.

As far as interpreting is concerned, conditions vary but are generally according to the type of service requested. For example, simultaneous interpreting is done by a team of 2 people or, if the situation so requires, by 3 or 4 professionals. Consecutive interpreting is done by an interpreter, if the duration of the engagement does not exceed 3 hours. If it is longer – a lecture, for example – the team must comprise two people.

The customer is responsible for the provision of materials to the member of the translation association, for he needs to evaluate the approximate number of pages and get acquainted with the theme of the materials. It is also specified by the client the type of translation, languages, number of interpreters, venue of the event and the technical equipment needed.

These rules secure a professional relationship between the customer and the language service provider.

In order to make your translation company a member of BAPITA, it must be registered in accordance with the requirements of Commercial Law as always as be registered for VAT. The main activity of the translation company must be the provision of written translation and / or interpretation and related activities (localisation, editing, correction, prepress, printing, provision of equipment, organisation of complete events, etc.). If asked for, the company should be able to show its balance and the accounting documents that prove the main activity.

A member of the translators association must accept and observe the Statutes of the Association as adopted by the Board, pay the entrance fee of 250 lev as well as the regular annual dues of 500 lev and other charges that may be decided by the Board.

The translation company must also have been active for at least three consecutive years in the field of translation and / or interpretation, operate in officers properly equipped for the purpose, have at least two officers assigned full-time other than the manager / owner and have at have at least one employee who is a professional translator, editor or proof-reader (certified by a professional organisation or with a diploma / references).

Furthermore, the company must have developed a system for monitoring the quality of its services, as well as have professional indemnity insurance. In the end, at least two references for the company’s activities are necessary.

Keep in mind that Bulgarian, an Indo-European language, a member of the Southern branch of the Slavic language family, is the official language of Bulgaria, a country with around 8 million inhabitants. It is estimated that there are approximately 9 million speakers of Bulgarian in the world.

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