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The Â鶹´«Ã½ Trade Commission has terminated a 1964 consent order as it applies to Albany International Corporation. The order settled charges that Papermakers Felt Association and its members -- including Albany Felt Company (to which Albany International is a successor) -- violated antitrust laws by conspiring to fix and maintain prices and terms of sale for their products. The Commission terminated the order against Albany International in accordance with its "sunsetting" policy, under which the Commission presumes, in the context of petitions to reopen and modify existing competition orders, that the public interest requires terminating orders that have been in effect for more than 20 years.

Albany International is based in Albany, New York.

The consent order at issue prohibited Albany International and the other respondents from combining or conspiring to fix prices or terms of sale, or to enter into specific other agreements to restrain competition in the papermakers felt industry. Papermaker felts are used in the paper, paperboard and related products industries to remove water from the wet sheet or pulp.

The Commission terminated the order as it pertains to Albany International, the only respondent that has petitioned the FTC to do so. The Commission vote was 5-0.

Copies of the Commission's order, as well as other documents associated with the 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 1-866-653-4261. 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-828)