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The Foodservice Equipment Distributors Association (formerly, the Food Service Equipment Industry, Inc.) has petitioned the Â鶹´«Ã½ Trade Commission to set aside a 1941

order which applies to the Association and numerous other respondents who were Association members at the time. The order prohibits them from entering into certain agreements or combinations among themselves that would restrain competition in the sale of food service equipment. The petition will be subject to public comment for 30 days, until Aug. 18.

The Association is based in Chicago, Illinois. Its members buy and sell food-service equipment to hotels, restaurants, clubs and other institutions. The 1941 order followed FTC findings that the Association and its members attempted to monopolize the market for resale and distribution of such equipment by, among other things, agreeing not to sell certain equipment through anyone other than "recognized" dealers, and agreeing not to sell equipment directly to buyers.

The Association maintains that it has not engaged in any conduct that would violate the order and requests that it be set aside because it is more than 50 years old.

Comments on the petition should be addressed to the FTC, Office of the Secretary, 6th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. Copies of the petition, as well as other documents associated with this case, are available from the FTC's Public Reference Branch, Room 130, 6th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580; 202-326-2222; TTY for the hearing impaired 202-326-2502. To find out the latest FTC news as it is announced, call the FTC's NewsPhone recording at 202-326-2710. FTC news releases and other materials also are available on the Internet at the FTC's World Wide Web Site at: http://www.ftc.gov

(FTC Docket No. C-3478)