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When to worry at a trade association meeting?
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Trade associations have a positive impact on the Hong Kong economy by setting industry standards and best practices, providing training, and promoting interests of their industries. However, as trade associations enable interactions among members who may be competitors, they must be cautious to avoid facilitating unlawful cartel conduct.
What should I do?
Trade association members have a responsibility to ensure that their conduct complies with competition law whether or not it is encouraged by their trade association.
Seven things that a trade association should NOT do
- Set, recommend or impose restrictions on:
- Prices for members’ products or fees for their services;
- Terms and conditions of sales, e.g. credit terms;
- Production targets for members.
- Facilitate or allow the sharing of competitively sensitive information among members.
- Facilitate or assist in:
- dividing up members’ sales focus, whether by geographic area, customer type or product/service type;
- collusive tendering practices.
- Have rules or codes that restrict or reduce competition among members, such as prohibitions on soliciting employees from competitors or limitations on discounts and promotions.
- Organise or encourage a boycott by members against targeted individuals or businesses.
- Use arbitrary rules to admit and/or expel members.
- Prevent members from developing alternative standards or providing products that do not conform to the association’s standards.
Hypothetical examples
To learn more: