Competition Law

Trade associations & other interactions

Introduction
Cartels
Trade associations & other interactions
Abuse of a dominant position
Mergers and acquisitions
Risks and sanctions
Communicating with competition authorities
Contacts
PDF
Organising and participating in trade fairs and exhibitions and professional associations, with competitors can be legitimate and useful for daily business.

PLEASE NOTE

Trade and professional associations may be used as a front for anticompetitive practices and lead to sanctions by Competition Authorities.

As such, you must be very careful when attending these meetings and comply with competition law.

DO

✓ — Obtain prior internal approval before joining a trade association and ensure that there is a code of conduct in place for its members

✓ — Obtain and review the agenda in advance of any trade association meeting

✓ — Obtain and review a copy of the meeting minutes following the event

✓ — Discuss permitted topics at trade association meetings, such as information in the public domain, historical information, new technical standards, innovation techniques and other topics concerning legislative or regulatory projects

✓ — Record any gap between the agenda and the content of the meeting, in writing, and leave a meeting if sensitive Information is exchanged

✓ — If the association shares statistical information, ensure that such information is broad, aggregated, historical and does not allow the individual companies to be identified

DON’T

✗ — Discuss and share sensitive information

✗ — Attend “side-meetings” that take place before or after the meeting and discuss sensitive information (coffee breaks, lunches, break out discussions conversations)