Antitrust laws are among the most important laws affecting business. Their purpose is to preserve fair and honest competition by, among other things, prohibiting any kind of agreement or understanding between or among competitors, whether formal or informal, oral or written, express or implied, regarding prices, terms of sale, limits of territories, or allocation of markets, no matter the reason. Violation of antitrust laws can carry serious criminal and civil penalties.
The greatest danger area in antitrust law is contact among competitors. Although trade associations such as APGA are generally acknowledged to serve vital roles, they can be, as is the case here, combinations of competitors. As such, they can be inherently dangerous because the mere existence of the trade association can supply the element of “concert” or “combination” necessary to prove a combination in restraint of trade. While many APGA members do not necessarily compete for customers, all compete in the market for goods and services, such as for gas supply, contracting services, and piping or other parts.
All participants in APGA Events and users of the website and online forums, including APGA staff, Directors, and all APGA members, shall comply with antitrust laws by abiding by the following guidance:
- No discussion regarding the costs, amounts, or terms for the purchase or sale of goods or services;
- No agreeing to fix prices; control output; limit territories; divide or allocate customers or product markets; boycott or price to destroy a competitor or provider; or discriminate in pricing to similar customers (including comments that could be construed to amount to such an agreement);
- No discussion or forecasting of prices for goods or services provided by or received by an entity;
- No sharing or discussing any entity’s confidential or proprietary information;
- No discussion of any entity’s specific purchasing plans, merger/divestment plans, production information, inventories, or costs;
- No discussion of how individual entities intend to respond to potential market/economic scenarios or government action (limit discussion to generalities); and
- No disparaging remarks and no promotional remarks regarding specific vendors, products, or services.
If a conversation presents an antitrust issue, APGA staff, Directors, and any other APGA members must raise the concern immediately. The discussion should be stopped. Immediately report any concerns to APGA’s General Counsel.
If you have any questions about APGA's antitrust guidelines, please contact APGA at info@apga.org.