Today, the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division (DOJ) jointly announced the withdrawal of the Antitrust Guidelines for Collaborations Among Competitors (Collaboration Guidelines).

The Collaboration Guidelines, issued in April 2000, no longer provide reliable guidance about how enforcers assess the legality of collaborations involving competitors, according to the FTC and DOJ’s joint withdrawal statement. Businesses considering collaborating with competitors are encouraged to review the relevant statutes and caselaw to assess whether a collaboration would violate the law.

The FTC and DOJ are committed to vigorous antitrust enforcement on a case-by-case basis in the area of competitor collaborations because such collaborations can harm competition and subvert the competitive process, according to the withdrawal statement.

The vote to withdraw the guidelines was 3-2, with Commissioners Andrew Ferguson and Melissa Holyoak dissenting. Commissioner Alvaro M. Bedoya issued a statement. Commissioners Ferguson and Holyoak each issued separate dissenting statements.