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| Anti-Trust Laws |
Policy No.: |
P-020 |
| Supercedes No.: |
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| Effective Date: July 1, 2002 |
Page No.: |
1 of 1 |
I. PURPOSE
To provide guidance to employees engaged in the purchasing function concerning the antitrust laws.
II. SCOPE
This policy applies to all Town personnel involved in the procurement process.
III. ANTITRUST
The policy of the Town is to comply with the letter and spirit of all laws applicable to the Town's business and interest.
Violations of the antitrust laws in any area of the Town's operations may have far-reaching effects, causing substantial injury to the company in lengthy and expensive litigation, damage liability, and injunctions. An employee who participates in a violation is individually and personally subject to fine or imprisonment.
The Town's compliance with these laws depends on the employees occupying positions of responsibility, especially in a procurement capacity.
It is, therefore, the policy to comply strictly in all respects with the antitrust laws. There shall be no exception to this policy, nor shall it be compromised or qualified by anyone acting for or on behalf of the Town.
Each employee is obligated in his/her area of responsibility to adhere to the above policy. The Town's purchasing personnel is not expected to have the knowledge of a lawyer, but he or she is expected to be guided by the Town's past practices and policies and by his or her own common sense. When he or she is faced with a new problem with unknown legal implications, he or she is expected to refer to their immediate supervisor or director who will consult with the Town's legal counsel for advise and handling.
IV. LAWS
There are laws, mostly federal statutes that have as their main objectives the preservation of competition.
The Sherman Antitrust Act
Congress passed the Sherman Antitrust Act in 1890. It prohibits contracts and conspiracies in restraint of trade, conspiracies to monopolize trade, and attempts to monopolize. The United States Department of Justice, the states' attorney general and private parties may sue to enforce it. The act makes illegal price fixing, bid rigging, territorial market allocation and some types of tying arrangements and boycotts.
The Clayton Antitrust Act
Congress enacted the Clayton Antitrust Act in 1914. It prohibits price discrimination and also precludes tying arrangements, certain mergers and interlocking directorates between competing companies, and certain exclusive deals and refusals to deal where their effect is to substantially lessen competition or to monopolize interstate commerce.
The Federal Trade Commission Act
The Federal Trade Commission Act, which Congress passed in 1914, prohibits unfair competition. It created the Federal Trade Commission, which prosecutes through administrative action conduct that restrains trade but may not rise to the level of a violation of antitrust law.
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The
Town of Collierville does not discriminate on the basis
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its hiring
and employment practices, or in admission to, access to,
or operation of its programs, services, and activities pursuant
to Title VI
of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 200d) and the
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Pub. L 101-336.
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