RULES APPLICABLE TO MEETINGS WITH GROUPS OF INDUSTRY REPRESENTATIVES

SECTION 1. PURPOSE

01. The purpose of this order is to prescribe the rules applicable to meetings of representatives of the National Production Authority with groups of industry representatives as set forth in the Defense Production Act of 1950, and Department of Commerce Order No. 114 applicable to meetings of industry representatives with National Production Authority officials.

02. The restrictions put upon such meetings are intended to assure the National Production Authority the benefits of a true cross section of industry opinion for its assistance in the development and administration of the defense program and to assure to industry protection from prosecution under the antitrust laws under the rules promulgated by the Attorney General.

03. The provisions of this order are not to be construed as prohibiting individual citizens or groups of citizens from seeking discussions with employees of the National Production Authority.

SECTION 2. DEVICES FOR SECURING ADVICE OF GROUPS OF INDUSTRY REPRESENTATIVES

01. Industry Advisory Committees. If a meeting is called for the purpose of considering problems affecting an entire industry, or a segment thereof, or involving questions upon which views or recommendations of several segments of the industry are desirable, it shall be held with a representative group selected from the industry and constituted as an industry advisory committee in accordance with Section 3, below.

02. Informal Conferences. If a meeting is called merely for the purpose of considering or obtaining advice or information on some specialized technical problem or for the purpose of preliminary discussions on other problems, an informal conference may be held, in accordance with Section 4, below, with a group which is not necessarily representative of the industry. Informal conferences also may be called at the request of a group not represented by an Industry Advisory Committee for such purposes. The holding of such a conference should not be considered as a substitute for the submission of proposed regulations and orders to the full Industry Advisory Committee as required by Section 3.05.

.03 Task Groups.-There are three situations in which so-called "task groups" will be used. The rules governing their organization and procedure are as follows:

1. If a special problem requires a considerable amount of time and effort, or requires regular advice from industry representatives, a "task group" may be selected by the Division Director as a sub-committee of the Industry Advisory Committee and the particular matter referred to them in writing. The functions of such group must be advisory only and they are not permitted to act or agree to act independently except in making recommendations to the National Production Authority. Such meetings must be conducted by a government representative in the manner specified in Section 2.02.

2. Occasionally a special problem will require continuous work of an industry group in preparing a recommendation for government action. Under such circumstances, if the work can best be conducted at some place other than Washington, and it is not convenient to have a government respresentative present, a task force may be organized with the consent of the Office of Industry Advisory Committees, and the Office of the General Counsel. A letter of instructions must be prepared stating the precise task to be accomplished, the members of the group and the fact that their functions are solely to prepare a recommendation for government action. The letter must in all cases state that under no circumstances will the task force be authorized to require information from members of industry who are not members of the task force. The procedure here outlined may be followed only when the task group's mission can be substantially completed in one month's time and the group then discontinued. It will be authorized primarily to permit the formulation of technical information and data required by the government as a guide to proposed action.

3. When it is proposed to form a task group for similar purposes to those specified in Section 2.03-2, but it is anticipated that their activities will continue for a period longer than one month, the proposal will be reviewed by the Office of the General Counsel and, if approved, will be submitted to the Department of Justice for clearance.

SECTION 3. PROCEDURE FOR ESTABLISHING AND USING INDUSTRY ADVISORY

COMMITTEES

.01 Proposal of a New Industry Advisory Committee.-The establishment of an industry advisory committee may be proposed by the director of an industry division. Such proposal shall be made to the Director of the Office of Industry Advisory Committees and shall be accompanied by a memorandum setting forth: 1. The purposes for which the industry advisory committee is to be established.

2. The name (including first names and initials), address, business connection and position held by each committee member proposed.

3. A statement, together with necessary supporting information, that the committee, in the opinion of the industry division head, is representative of the industry.

In this connection, the Defense Production Act of 1950 requires that, "such business advisory committees shall be appointed as shall be appropriate for purposes of consultation in the formulation of rules, regulations, or orders, or amendments thereto issued under authority of this Act, and in their formation there shall be fair representation for independent small, for medium, and for large business enterprises, for different geographical areas, for trade association members and nonmembers, and for different segments of the industry;".

4. The date and time of the first meeting of the committee, the government representatives to be requested to attend the meeting and an agenda for such meeting.

5. The memorandum of proposal shall have attached: (a) the nomination of the government presiding officer who shall be designated by the industry division director and (b) a clearance memorandum from the Office of Small Business. The Office of Small Business memorandum shall be considered as evidence that the Office of Small Business has reviewed the proposed membership of the industry advisory committee and, in the opinion of the Office of Small Business, such committee affords fair representation to independent small business enterprises. If the industry division director and the Office of Small Business fail to agree on the question of such fair representation, the matter shall be referred to the Office of Industry Advisory Committees for a decision.

.02 Approval of a New Industry Advisory Committee.-If the Office of Industry Advisory Committees is satisfied that the committee is representative, the committee shall be established by the Director of the Office of Industry Advisory Committees. In order to make the committee as representative as practicable, the Director of the Office of Industry Advisory Committees may change the membership of a proposed committee either by adding names to or eliminating names from the proposed list; in such event, he shall advise the government presiding officer of the changes to be made in order to enable the latter to express his views with respect to such changes. Generally, members shall be designated for limited terms to permit rotation of membership where this is feasible or desirable. .03 Meetings of Industry Advisory Committees.

1. Invitations: All invitations to and notices of meetings of any industry advisory committee shall be issued to members or others by the Office of Industry Advisory Committees upon the receipt of a request for a meeting, together with an agenda from the government presiding officer. Only those thus invited shall attend meetings.

2. Refusals: In case any invitations are refused, the government presiding officer shall propose such additional members as are necessary to complete the membership of the committee. If such additional members are approved by the Director of the Office of Industry Advisory Committees, he shall invite them to serve on the committee.

3. Additional Members and Vacancies: Whenever the government presiding officer believes an additional member should be appointed to a committee or that a vacancy should be filled, he may propose a new member. If such additional members are approved by the Director of the Office of Industry Advisory Committees, he shall invite them to serve on the committee. New members shall not be selected in any manner which would give inadequate representation to any part of the industry.

4. Place of Meeting: No meeting shall be held outside Washington unless specific written authorization of the Director of the Office of Industry Advisory Committees and of the General Counsel is first obtained. The division director should direct all requests for meetings outside Washington to the

Director of the Office of Industry Advisory Committees setting forth the circumstances justifying an exception from the rule.

5. Meetings May be Proposed by Members: A meeting of an industry advisory committee may be proposed by any three of its members. Such proposal should be addressed to the Office of Industry Advisory Committees.

6. Presiding officer-Minutes: The government presiding officer shall preside over ail meetings of a committee. Minutes may be a summary of important matters discussed at the meeting and need not be a full stenographic record. The Director of the Office of Industry Advisory Committees shall decide whether minutes should be distributed and, if so, to whom they should be distributed.

7. Special attendance: The government presiding officer may request that each member of a committee send a representative or representatives with specific qualifications to a particular meeting, or have such a person or persons accompany the member to a particular meeting.

8. Segment attendance: A meeting of a segment or segments of a committee may be called to discuss subjects of interest only to the segment or segments, provided that the segment of the committee is representative of the segment of the industry, or that additional representatives are appointed to the segment in order to make it representative.

.04 Limitations on Use of Industry Advisory Committees and the Anti-trust Laws. Industry Advisory Committees are the recognized, official instruments for maintaining contact between the National Production Authority and industry on all matters relating to the defense program. So long as Industry Advisory Committees, duly established and meeting in accordance with this order, limit their activities as indicated below in subsections, it is the opinion of the General Counsel of the National Production Authority that, in accordance with rules promulgated by the Attorney General, no prosecution under the antitrust laws will be instituted against them on the basis of such activities.

1. An Industry Advisory Committee may discuss any subject pertinent to the defense program and to the industry involved at a meeting duly called in accordance with this order and presided over by a government presiding officer.

2. An Industry Advisory Committee may furnish information, render advice, and make recommendations to the government presiding officer when requested by him to do so.

3. An Industry Advisory Committee shall not undertake to determine policies for the industry, nor shall its members attempt to compel or coerce any person to comply with any request or order made by the government presiding officer or any public authority, nor shall they reach any agreement or understanding among themselves or with the government presiding officer regarding specific action to be taken by the industry, provided, however, that agreement on the part of the committee members with respect to recommendations shall not be prohibited.

.05 Required Use of Industry Advisory Committees.

1. Except when such consultation is found by the Administrator to be impractical, no new rule, regulation, limitation or conservation order or amendment of an existing order which will result in a substantial change in the rate of operations of an industry shall be submitted for clearance without prior consultation with the proper Industry Advisory Committee or Committees of the industries to be affected. Every attempt should be made to consult the Industry Advisory Committee as early in the development of an order as is practicable.

2. Whenever it is the opinion of the appropriate division director responsible for the preparation and circulation of a proposed order that its unusually confidential character or the necessity for speed requires the circulation or issuance of an order of the type described in Section 3.05-1, without consultation with the industries affected, he should state the reasons in writing to the appropriate bureau director to which he reports, who will then decide whether to recommend to the Administrator that an exception to the rule be allowed, and the order be issued without consultation.

3. In any case in which an order of the type described in Section 3.05-1, is proposed by the division to which the industries substantially affected are assigned, it shall be the responsibility of that division to effect the necessary consultation with the proper industry advisory committee or committees. In any case in which the division sponsoring the order does not have assigned to it the industries which will be substantially affected, it shall be the responsibility of the sponsoring division to notify the appropriate officials of the

division to which the industries are assigned to arrange for the consultation with industry, and provide the representatives of the division sponsoring the order with an opportunity to present the order and a statement of its basis to the industry committee convening for that purpose.

4. The manner of presentation of the proposed order to the industry committee consulted shall be in the discretion of the division sponsoring the order, i. e., whether or not the matter shall be handled by statement and oral discussions.

SECTION 4. PROCEDURE FOR CALLING INFORMAL CONFERENCES

.01 An informal conference as defined in Section 2.02 may be authorized by a division director. Minutes shall be kept and the summary or minutes shall be filed with the Office of Industry Advisory Committees within five days after the adjournment of the conference. If the problem under consideration concerns more than one division, in arranging an informal conference the director of the sponsoring division shall be guided by the provisions in Section 3.05-3 covering committee meetings.

SECTION 5. PUBLICITY REGARDING MEETINGS WITH INDUSTRY REPRESENTATIVES

.01 It shall be the responsibility of the Office of Public Information to make public information relating to any proposed meeting with industry representatives and information regarding such meetings.

SECTION 6. ATTENDANCE BY NATIONAL PRODUCTION AUTHORITY OFFICIALS AT MEETINGS CALLED BY INDUSTRY

.01 No representative of the National Production Authority shall attend any meeting called by a trade association or any other industry organization or group of industry representatives unless the meeting is a sizeable one to which all members of the trade in the vicinity are invited or would be admitted, or unless the meeting is public in character. Speeches or remarks made at such meetings by representatives of the National Production Authority shall be designated by the persons making them as wholly unofficial unless otherwise authorized by the Administrator and the Office of Public Information. No representative of the National Production Authority shall attend any informal meeting of limited attendance called by industry representatives.

SECTION 7. COMPENSATION AND EXPENSES

.01 The National Production Authority will not pay any compensation to, or the expenses of, any committee member.

SECTION 8. ORDERS SUPERSEDED

.01 This order supersedes memorandum of May 24, 1950 from Earl W. Clark, Special Assistant to the Secretary, addressed to heads of bureaus and officials, insofar as the establishment and operation of National Production Authority industry advisory committees are concerned.

SECTION 9. EFFECTIVE DATE

.01 This order is effective December 18, 1950.

Pursuant to General Program Order No. 6, I request the formation of the subject industry advisory committee and the appointment of the proposed members thereof. It is requested that the committee menbers be appointed for a term ending

I nominate

as Government Presiding Officer for the proposed committee.

This committee is being formed for the specific purpose of considering the following immediate problems:

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I certify that the committee as proposed is in my judgment truly representative of the industry and recommend your approval of the organization of the committee and the appointment of the proposed members.