IATP Antitrust Guidelines - 123rd IATP Conference - Virtual

The purpose of these guidelines is to ensure that all IATP meetings and activities are conducted in compliance with applicable antitrust rules.

Antitrust violations may result in heavy fines for corporations, and in fines and even imprisonment for individuals. While IATP provides guidance on antitrust matters, the Members bear the ultimate responsibility for assuring that their actions and the actions of any of those under their direction comply with the antitrust laws.

IATP and its members (hereinafter referred to as "Members") shall comply strictly with the rules applicable in competition law within the framework of all activities and relationships taking place within or through IATP.

This guidance cannot describe all behaviours to be observed or list all proscribed behaviour. Each Member shall be duly aware by its own means about antitrust rules including through advice from their own legal counsels/experts.

The rules of competition law aim to preserve and promote a free and undistorted competition between companies.

They prohibit any agreement or practice between companies consisting in particular pricing, allocation of markets or customers, or to limit production or distribution of industrial and commercial markets, the exclusion of a company from the market (boycott).

Such agreements or practices can be made in a very informal manner. Thus, the mere presence at a meeting at which an exchange of sensitive information would take place between competing companies may suffice to characterize an offense.

Activities organized by IATP (meetings, workshops ...) lead competing firms to meet but also to exclude indirectly non-members companies from these activities.

Therefore, during these activities it is essential for Members: (i) to refrain from any discussion, exchange of data or recommendations on topics considered sensitive under the rules of competition law or sensitive information and (ii) to comply with the procedures established for this purpose.
 

Procedure applicable to meetings

The IATP meetings shall be conducted pursuant to the following procedures in order to ensure compliance with relevant competition rules.

This procedure applies to any meeting held within or through IATP and taking place physically or by any means of communication, such as telephone, video conferencing or Internet.

Before each meeting
Meetings shall be conducted at regular scheduled sessions, at special meetings initiated pursuant to procedures set forth in IATP’s internal governance rules or through the activities of duly designated committees.

An agenda containing all specific topics that will be discussed shall be sent to each participant within a reasonable time such as, if any, changes may be proposed and passed on before the meeting. As far as possible, the documents mentioned in the agenda shall be uploaded in the IATP platform.

During each meeting
All discussions or conversations among conference participants, including during breaks and scheduled or non-scheduled social activities shall be connected with the meetings or shall comply with these Guidelines. 122 nd IATP Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, 10 – 14 October 2020IATP Antitrust Guidelines

After the meeting
Minutes of IATP meetings shall be kept during five years. These minutes shall include indications about Member or a Partnership Program member absenting him/herself from the Meeting for a particular agenda item.

A report of each meeting shall be sent to all participants, or made available for any comment.
 

Prohibited exchange of information, agreements and activities during meeting organized by IATP

These Guidelines are intended to remind that any exchange of information between competitors on the following topics should be prohibited:

- Any information relating to the products or services they produce and / or market: margins, profits, sales conditions, market shares, product list, costs of any kind (including the amount of compensation of employees ...), price, quality and diversity of products, inventory, customer lists and suppliers, orders, quotes, shipments, volume and capacity, business plan ...;
- Anything related to their industrial or commercial strategy, introduction of new geographic markets, launching new products etc

IATP Members shall refrain from making any recommendation, directly or indirectly, for or against specific products or services or specific companies.

In case of a doubt about a particular topic, Members agree to suspend discussion on this subject and to refer to their own legal counsel to determine whether and under what conditions discussions can take place lawfully on this subject.

Unless attendees to meetings are advised to the contrary by competition counsel, the following types of agreements, whether express or implied, are STRICTLY PROHIBITED:

Any collective agreement concerning prices to be charged for airline services;
Any collective agreement allocating markets, territories, customers, suppliers or agents;
Any collective agreement relating to prices to be paid to suppliers, and any other agreement that is intended to, or that in operation is likely to, harm non participants, including without limitation any agreement that is intended to, or in operation is likely to, exclude a non-participant from any market; and
Any agreement that is intended to, or in operation is likely to induce airlines or their suppliers or agents to engage in collective anticompetitive behaviour, or to collectively punish any business enterprise for its exercise of independent business judgment.
 

Confidentiality

Are considered as being confidential (hereinafter "Confidential Information") all data and information of any kind kept on any medium and disclosed in any form by IATP to Members or by a Member to IATP or by a Member to another Member during the activities of IATP or through IATP.

Data and information as defined above which (i) have fallen into the public domain without intervention or omission of a Member or IATP, (ii) obtained by a Member independently, through not fraudulent means, without being subject to any obligation of confidentiality or (iii) for which the issuer has expressly and in writing waived confidentiality are not considered as Confidential Information.

Each Member shall respect the confidential nature of the Confidential Information and not disclose to a non-member unless the disclosure is requested by or authorized by laws.