DOJ Business Advisory Letter of December 12, 2001 01-9 concerning the Association of Fund-Raising Distributors and Suppliers
(Text
excerpted from DOJ source)
Facts: The Association of Fund-Raising Distributors and Suppliers ("AFRDS") proposes to establish uniform product ordering formats for products sold to non-profit organizations for resale in their fund-raising activities. AFRDS would establish a program designed to reduce ordering errors and to make it more efficient for distributors to deal with a greater number of suppliers. A possible outcome would be an eight-digit numeric code with the first three digits identifying the supplier company and the remaining five digits identifying the specific product item. All distributors, without regard to membership in AFRDS, would have access to the information; indeed, the series of numbers assigned to supplier companies would be public information, posted on the AFRDS web site. Supplier companies would still be responsible for applying specific codes to individual product items and for making the information available to their own customers through normal channels.
Response: Since the information to be exchanged in the development of the program will not contain pricing or other competitively sensitive information, it is unlikely that the program will diminish rivalry. Furthermore, the fact that all suppliers and distributors will have voluntary access to the program makes it unlikely that the program will unduly favor any supplier or group of suppliers. To the extent that the proposed program will reduce ordering error and enable distributors to deal with a larger number of suppliers, it could have a procompetitive effect. The Department has no present intention to challenge the proposal.
Formal DOJ Business Advisory Letter