By law, a supplier cannot interfere with a customer’s freedom to determine its own resale prices, cash discounts, profit margins and other terms and conditions of sale. Furthermore, a supplier acting in concert with a customer cannot interfere with the business decisions of another customer. Resale price-fixing agreements can be proven by circumstantial evidence, and any criticism of a particular price level can be argued to have been a threat. We should also avoid discussions of one customer’s prices with another or with a supplier, since such discussions can be interpreted as an implied demand that a particular price be established.
Tie-in sales and reciprocal dealing are other potential danger areas where caution should rule.Tie-in or tying sales or arrangements are those in which a customer must purchase one product or service in order to be able to purchase another or a supplier must sell one product or service in order to sell another. Reciprocal sales can be described as “you buy from me because I buy from you.” Any activity that may involve these areas should be reviewed and approved by the Chief Executive Officer or the designee thereof before being discussed with a customer or a supplier.
Seeking Advice—The preceding discussion is by no means an exhaustive list of areas where antitrust laws apply. If we have questions about a specific business activity, consult with our supervisors, the Chief Executive Officer or the Chief Financial Officer.Remember, the Company wants us to ask questions.
Conflict Minerals Compliance
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) adopted final rules to implement reporting and disclosure requirements related to “conflict minerals,” as directed by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010. The rules require manufacturers who file certain reports with the SEC to disclose whether the products they manufacture or contract to manufacture contain “conflict minerals” that are “necessary to the functionality or production” of those products. These rules impose disclosure and due diligence requirements on publicly traded companies that manufacture products containing certain minerals designated as “conflict minerals”: gold, columbite-tantalite (coltan), cassiterite, wolframite, and their derivatives, tantalum, tin and tungsten, that have all been mined or smelted in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (the “DRC”), Republic of Congo, Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda or Zambia.
In order to support the objectives of the U.S. legislation on the supply of the “conflict minerals,” compliance is maintained by way of having our suppliers undertake reasonable due diligence and provide documented assurance that their supply chains which provide specified materials are sourced only from smelts outside of the “Conflict Region” or those which have been certified by an independent third party as “conflict free” if sourced within the “Conflict Region.”
Geospace’s goal is to ensure that only “conflict free” materials and components are used in products that it procures. If any of us discovers the use of these minerals produced in facilities that are considered to be“non-conflict free”, in any material, parts, or components we procure, the employee should notify the Chief Financial Officer or the Chief Executive Officer so that the appropriate actions can be made to transition the product to “conflict free.”
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