On September 24, 2015, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
announced a proposed consent order
against the National Association of Animal Breeders (NAAB).
NAAB's members collect, process, market, and sell dairy and
beef cattle semen for artificial insemination (AI). In the
complaint accompanying the order, the FTC alleges that NAAB's
code of ethics limits competition among NAAB members by prohibiting
comparative advertising and limiting price-based advertising. The
FTC's proposed consent order eliminates those provisions and
requires that NAAB adopt certain safeguards to avoid further
potential anticompetitive conduct.
Although trade and professional association codes of
ethics—and similar well-intentioned restrictions on
association members, or on certificants or accreditants (if a
certification or accreditation program is involved)—are
generally viewed as promoting competition, the FTC and the U.S.
Department of Justice (the primary federal antitrust
