§421-20  Associations are not in restraint
of trade.  (a)  No association complying with the terms hereof shall be
deemed to be a conspiracy or a combination in restraint of trade, or an illegal
monopoly; or be deemed to have been formed for the purpose of lessening
competition or fixing prices arbitrarily, nor shall the contracts between the
association and its members, or any agreements authorized in this chapter, be
construed as an unlawful restraint of trade, or as part of a conspiracy or
combination to accomplish an improper or illegal purpose or act. (b)  An
association may acquire, exchange, interpret, and disseminate to its members,
to other cooperative associations, and otherwise, past, present, and
prospective crop, market, statistical, economic, and other similar information
relating to the business of the association, either directly or through an
agent created or selected by it or by the other associations acting in
conjunction with it.



(c)  An association may advise its members in
respect to the adjustment of their current and prospective production of
agricultural commodities or products and its relation to the prospective volume
of consumption, selling prices, and existing or potential surplus, to the end
that every market may be served from the most convenient productive areas under
a program of orderly marketing that will assure adequate supplies without undue
enhancement of prices or the accumulation of any undue surplus. [L 1949, c 234,
pt of §1; RL 1955, §176-21; HRS §421-20; am L 2001, c 129, §63]



 



Cross References



 



  Restraint of trade exemption, see §480‑11.