Announced Actions for May 11, 2001

Consent agreements given final approval:

Following a public comment period, the Commission has approved two final consent agreements in related matters with the following: 1) Hoechst Marion Roussel, Inc. ("Hoechst," now Aventis) and Carderm Capital, L.P.; and 2) Andrx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Andrx"). Both matters concern an FTC complaint charging the companies reached an anticompetitive agreement to delay the release of a generic version of the drug Cardizem CD onto the U.S. market. The Commission vote to approve each consent agreement was 5-0. (Docket No. D09293; staff contacts are Bradley Albert and Richard A. Feinstein, Bureau of Competition, 202-326-3679 or 202-326-3688; see press releases dated March 16, 2000 and April 2, 2001).

Publication of Federal Register notice:

The Commission has approved the publication of a Federal Register notice of rulemaking regarding the following: Interim Amendments to the Hart-Scott-Rodino ("HSR") Premerger Notification Rules and their Transmission to the U.S. Department of Justice "DOJ"). On July 1, 2001 the FTC will amend the Antitrust Improvements Act Notification and Report Form and accompanying Instructions for Certain Mergers and Acquisitions, 16 CFR Part 803, Appendix, which must be completed and submitted by persons required to report mergers or acquisitions pursuant to the HSR Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (15 U.S.C. 18a). Under the Act, certain acquired and acquiring persons must file a notification and report form with the FTC and the DOJ to provide advance notification of mergers and acquisitions. The agencies use this information to determine if the proposed transaction may be anticompetitive and to take enforcement action, if appropriate, to prevent the consummation of transactions that violate Section 7 of the Clayton Act. Only after observing the waiting period under the Act may the companies complete the proposed transaction.

The amended form and instructions will require filers to: 1) report revenue data using the North American Industry Classification System ("NAICS") rather than the Standard Industrial Classification ("SIC") System; 2) use 1997 rather than 1992 as the base year for reporting revenue data; and 3) report insurance activities in the body of the form rather than in an insurance appendix. The form and instructions currently require filers to report revenue data contained in the 1992 Economic Census and the "1992 Numerical List of Manufactured and Mineral Products." The Bureau of the Census has recently published its 1997 versions of the Economic Census and the "Numerical List of Manufactured and Mineral Products." In these reports, the data is compiled using the NAICS, which has replaced the SIC as the industrial classification for the United States. As a result, the Form, the Instructions, and several rules will be amended to replace references to the SIC codes with references to the NAICS codes, and references to a 1992 base year to a 1997 base year.

The Commission vote to change the form and instructions and to publish the Federal Register notice of rulemaking was 5-0. The changes are detailed on the Commission's Web site within the Antitrust/Competition (Premerger/Hart-Scott-Rodino Act) section. (FTC File No. P989315; staff contacts are William Lanning and Alice Villavicencio, Bureau of Competition, 202-326-3361 or 202-326-3155.)

Copies of the documents mentioned in this release are available from the FTC's Web site at  http://www.ftc.gov and also from the FTC's Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop and avoid them. To file a complaint, or to get free information on any of 150 consumer topics, call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357), or use the complaint form at www.ftc.gov. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.