2023 AM Registration Form

ANTITRUST POLICY STATEMENT OF THE CONVEYOR EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION
(Revised by the CEMA Board of Directors September 18, 2018)

The Conveyor Equipment Manufacturers Association is a trade association of members of the conveyor manufacturing industry which was incorporated in 1935 under the non-profit corporation law of the State of Illinois and domesticated under the laws of Florida on September 18, 2018. It is organized to promote the common interests of its members and of the members of the conveyor manufacturing industry, when such interests do not conflict with the common good. CEMA is not intended to become involved, and will not become involved, in the competitive business decisions of its member companies, nor will it take any action which would tend to restrain competition in the conveyor manufacturing industry.
Nevertheless, it is recognized by the Board of Directors of CEMA that the Association and its varied activities could be regarded by some as a forum or opportunity to promote anticompetitive conduct. For this reason, the Board of Directors has taken this occasion, through this statement of policy, to make clear its unequivocal support for the policy of competition served by the antitrust laws as well as its uncompromising intent to comply strictly in all respects with those laws.
In addition to the Association’s firm commitment to the principle of competition served by the antitrust laws, the penalties which may be imposed upon both the Association and its individual and corporate members involved in any violation of such laws, are now so severe that good business judgment demands that every effort be made to avoid any such violation. Certain violations of the Sherman Act, such as price-fixing, are felony crimes for which individuals may now be imprisoned for up to three (3) years or fined up to $350,000 or both, and corporations can be fined up to $10,000,000 for each offense. In addition, treble damage claims by private parties (including class actions) for antitrust violations are extremely expensive to litigate and can result in judgments of a magnitude which could destroy the Association and seriously affect the financial interests of its individual members.
It shall be the responsibility of every member of CEMA to be guided by CEMA’s policy of strict compliance with the antitrust laws in all CEMA activities. It shall be the special responsibility of Association officers, committee chairs and officers of product sections and conferences to ensure that this policy is known and adhered to in the course of activities pursued under their leadership.
To assist the CEMA staff and all its officers, directors, committee chairs and conference officers in recognizing situations which may raise the appearance of an antitrust problem, the Board will, as a matter of policy, furnish to each of such persons copies of the Association’s General Rules of Antitrust Compliance. The Association will also make available general legal advice when questions arise as to the manner in which the antitrust laws may apply to the activities of CEMA or to any committee or product section or conference thereof.

Antitrust compliance is the responsibility of every CEMA member. Any violation of the CEMA General Rules of Antitrust Compliance or of this general policy will result in immediate suspension from membership in the Association, and immediate removal from any Association office held by an official representative violating the same.

GENERAL RULES OF ANTITRUST COMPLIANCE

The following rules are applicable to all CEMA Activities and must be observed in all situations and under all circumstances, without exception or qualification other than as noted below.
1. Neither CEMA nor any committee, product section, conference, or activity of CEMA shall be used for the purpose of bringing about, or attempting to bring about, any understanding or agreement, written or oral, formal or informal, express or implied, among competitors with regard to prices, terms or conditions of sales, discounts, distribution, volume of production, territories or customers.
2. No CEMA activity or communication shall include discussion or action, for any purpose or in any fashion, of prices or pricing methods, production quotas or other limitations on either the timing or volume of production or of sales or involve allocation of territories or markets of customers in any way.
3. No CEMA committee or product section or conference shall undertake any activity which involves exchange or collection and dissemination among competitors, of any information regarding prices, pricing methods, costs of production, or of labor or sales or distribution or individual company statistics of any kind, without first obtaining the advice of legal counsel, provided by the Association, as to those proper and lawful methods by which these activities may be pursued.
4. No CEMA activity or communication shall include any discussion or action which might be construed as an attempt to prevent any person or business entity from gaining access to any market or to any customer for goods or services, or to prevent or boycott any business entity from obtaining a supply of goods or otherwise purchasing goods or services freely in the market.
5. No CEMA activity or communication shall include any discussion or action which might be construed as an agreement or understanding to refrain from purchasing any raw materials, equipment, services or other supplies from any supplier.
6. Neither CEMA, nor any committee or product section or conference thereof, shall make any effort to bring about the standardization of any product or method of manufacture or certification of any product or program, for the purpose of preventing the manufacture or sale of any product not conforming to a specified standard or which would tend to have the overall effect either lessening competition or resulting in a degree of price stabilization.
7. No person or company shall be unreasonable excluded from CEMA membership or participation in any CEMA activity, committee, product section or conference, where such exclusion may impair such person’s or company’s ability to compete effectively in the conveyor manufacturing industry.
8. In conducting CEMA committee meetings, or product sections or conferences, the chair thereof shall prepare and follow a formal agenda. Minutes of each meeting shall be distributed to all persons who attended such meetings. Approval of the minutes shall be obtained from the membership of the committee, section, or conference at its next meeting. Copies of the minutes shall be transmitted to the headquarters staff and to legal counsel.
9. Association speakers and authors of conference papers shall be informed of the need to comply with the Association’s antitrust policy in the preparation and presentation of their papers.
10. In informal or social discussions at the site of a CEMA meeting, which are beyond the control of its officers and chairs, all representatives are expected to observe the same standards of personal conduct required of the Association in its compliance with these antitrust guidelines. In addition, copies of the foregoing Antitrust Policy Statement and General Rules of Antitrust Compliance will be included in meeting registration packets and will also be printed in CEMA Yearbooks.