INTRODUCTION
The maintenance of high ethical standards in adhering to national and international laws is one of the fundamental Aluminij Industries (hereandafter „ Aluminij“ or „we“) Principles.
Competition laws – also referred to as antitrust laws – are designed to protect competition. They prohibit business behaviour which has the objective or the effect of preventing, restricting or distorting competition. It is the belief of the management that even in the absence of such laws, the interest of the Aluminij, its employees and other are best served by the principles of free market economy and fair competition. For these reasons, it is the policy of the Aluminij to comply strictly, in all respects, with competition laws.
PURPOSE
As a company with worldwide business activities, Aluminij is subject to the competition and antitrust legislation in many jurisdictions. Although country-specific legislation is different in application, the underlying principles of anticompetitive behaviour are similar and the guidelines provided below highlight these behaviours.
This Policy is designed to make both management and employees aware of the basic rules, and how these rules affect their business behaviour in making commercial decisions.
This Directive cannot cover all facts and circumstances that may encounter in business activities. Accordingly, it is strongly recommended and expected that in every case of doubt or in any instance where an employee has a question as to whether a particular course of action is appropriate or not, should contact the legal department for advice.
This Policy sets out Aluminij approach to ensuring that we fully comply with competition laws applicable to our business activities and that we appropriately manage associated risks.
We are committed to competing fairly across our global operations and do not engage in practices that restrict fair market competition.
We are aware that the greatest risks occur when dealing with competitors, in particular through commercial agreements, coordinating strategy or exchanging sensitive information.
Competition laws aim to protect consumers by promoting free, undistorted competition between companies, protecting independent decision making of market participants, and preventing the misuse of market power.
In certain circumstances, agreements with competitors may be considered permissible when their restrictions to competition are outweighed by efficiencies, e.g. improvements in technology or production. Examples of such arrangements are Joint technical or quality control standards or Joint research and development ventures.
When employees are proposing, or invited to participate in, any arrangement with competitors, they must inform and consult with their Legal Department immediately and before the event.
We do not discuss or share commercially sensitive information with our competitors unless there is a legitimate reason, as this can of itself be a hardcore breach of competition law. We do not share detailed current and future pricing, cost and volume information and future strategy and investment plans, as this type of information is particularly high risk.
We do not share high risk information with our competitors.
We must inform Legal if we receive, or are asked to share, this type of information with a competitor.
Particular risks arise when the supplier, customer or agent is also a competing producer. We must not enter into agency or marketing agreements with competing producers without consulting Legal.
The obligation is on each employee to bring to the attention of the Legal Department as soon as an employee suspects that a transaction or activity may be viewed as anticompetitive promptly and before any action is taken on behalf of the Company, circumstances which may have anticompetitive implications.
POLICY BREACHES
We look out for certain clauses which are considered hardcore breaches invertical agreements and which attract significant penalties.
Failure to address the risk of anti-competitive practices may undermine our reputation and lead to investigations, fines and/or other penalties for the company and/or individuals.
POLICY REVIEW
This Policy shall be updated from time.