Anti-Trust Statement
It is the clear intent of the American Polygraph Association (hereinafter APA), its Officers and Members to be in complete compliance with all federal and state anti-trust rules, regulations and amendments thereof and to uphold the highest standards of ethical and legal behavior as professionals involved in the detection of deception.
Numerous state and federal laws absolutely prohibit the exchange of information among competitors regarding price, refusals to deal, or agreements to proceed in certain anti-competitive respects, and that no such exchange of this information is either sanctioned by APA or will be permitted during meetings, conferences, educational seminars or any other professional or social gatherings. This is a very serious matter and your cooperation and adherence to these standards is expected.
The APA shall not, nor shall any of its Officers or Members, in any fashion whatsoever attempt to lessen competition or fix prices arbitrarily or to create a combination or pool in violation of the laws of any state.
These policies and procedures apply to all Officers, Boards, Member, Committees and meetings sponsored by or in which the APA participates and all activities by the membership within their scope as members of the APA. All meetings of the APA, regardless of the subject matter or the level of participation of the membership of the APA shall be conducted as though they were open to the public.
Discussions of price fixing and/or price levels are strictly prohibited. In addition, no discussion is permitted of any elements of a company's operations which might influence prices, pricing and/or price levels of that company's cost of operations, supplies, labor and/or services. There shall be no discussion as to the allowances for discounts, terms of sale, profit percentages and/or mark ups.
Discussions of a division, separation and/or limitation of territories, customers, and/or service providers and/or limitation of the nature of business carried on or products sold and/or services delivered are not permitted.
Boycotts in any form or nature are strictly prohibited. Discussion or engagement relating to boycotts, blacklisting, unfavorable reports about a particular individual, company or organization, including their financial situation is strictly prohibited
Violation of the anti-trust laws may result in mandatory jail sentences, fines or both, even for first time offenders who are otherwise leaders in their communities.
If any discussion or action in violation of anti-trust statutes occurs, you should object, have your objection noted in the minutes of any meeting and, if the discussion or practice continues, leave the room. Further, the prohibitions apply to discussions in an informal or social setting, not just regularly scheduled meetings. If you see any prohibited practices creeping into any APA meeting or social event, it is your duty to raise your concerns to a leader of the APA.