A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry. An industry trade association participates in

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...

activities such as

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

, education, publishing,

lobbying In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, whic ...

, and

political donations Campaign finance, also known as election finance or political donations, refers to the funds raised to promote candidates, political parties, or policy initiatives and referendums. Political parties, charitable organizations, and political act ...

, but its focus is collaboration between companies. Associations may offer other services, such as producing conferences, holding networking or charitable events, or offering classes or educational materials. Many associations are non-profit organizations governed by bylaws and directed by officers who are also members. In countries with a social market economy, the role of trade associations is often taken by employers' organizations, which also take a role in

social dialogue Social dialogue (or social concertation) is the process whereby social partners (trade unions and employer organisations) negotiate, often in collaboration with the government, to influence the arrangement and development of work-related issues, lab ...

Political influence

One of the primary purposes of trade groups, particularly in the United States, is to attempt to influence

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public ...

in a direction favorable to the group's members. It can take the form of contributions to the campaigns of political candidates and parties through political action committees (PACs); contributions to "issue" campaigns not tied to a candidate or party; and

legislator A legislator (also known as a deputy or lawmaker) is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are often elected by the people of the state. Legislatures may be supra-national (for e ...

s to support or oppose particular legislation. In addition, trade groups attempt to influence the activities of regulatory bodies. In the United States, direct contributions by PACs to candidates are required to be disclosed to the

Federal Election Commission The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent regulatory agency of the United States whose purpose is to enforce campaign finance law in United States federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Cam ...

or state and local election overseers; are considered public information; and have registration requirements for lobbyists. Even so, it can sometimes be difficult to trace the funding for issue and non-electoral campaigns.

Publishing

Almost all trade associations are heavily involved in publishing activities in print and online. The main media published by trade associations are as follows: * Association website. The association's corporate website typically explains the association's aims and objectives, promotes the association's products and services, explains the benefits of membership to prospective members, and promotes members' businesses (for example, by means of an online listing of members and description of their businesses). * Members newsletters or magazines. Whether produced in print or online, association newsletters and magazines contain news about the activities of the association, industry news and editorial features on topical issues. Some are exclusively distributed to members, while others are used to lobby lawmakers and regulators, and some are used to promote members' businesses to potential new customers. * Printed membership directories and yearbooks. Larger trade associations publish membership directories and yearbooks to promote their association to opinion formers, lawmakers, regulators and other stakeholders. Such publications also help to promote members' businesses both to each other and to a wider audience. A typical membership directory contains profiles of each association member, a products and services guide, advertising from members, and editorial articles about the aims, objectives and activities of the association. The emphasis of association yearbooks on the other hand is on editorial features about the association itself and the association's industry. The opportunity to be promoted in such media (whether by editorial or advertising) is often an important reason why companies join a trade association in the first place. Examples of larger trade associations that publish a comprehensive range of media include European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).

Generic advertising

Industry trade groups sometimes produce advertisements, just as normal corporations do. However, whereas typical advertisements are for a specific corporate product, such as a specific brand of cheese or toilet paper, industry trade groups advertisements generally are targeted to promote the views of an entire industry.

Ads to improve industry image

These ads mention only the industry's products as a whole, painting them in a positive light in order to have the public form positive associations with that industry and its products. For example, in the USA the advertising campaign "Beef. It's what's for dinner" is used by the

National Cattlemen's Beef Association National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) is an American trade association and lobbying group working for American beef producers. Advertising campaign National Cattlemen's Beef Association is a contractor to the Beef Checkoff, which is the gro ...

to promote a positive image of beef in the public consciousness.

Ads to shape opinion on a specific issue

These are adverts targeted at specific issues. For example, in the US in the early 2000s the

Motion Picture Association of America The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distri ...

(MPAA) began running advertisements before films that advocate against movie piracy over the Internet.

Controversy

A frequent criticism of trade associations is that, they are not per se "profit-making" organizations, but they are in reality fronts for cartels engaged in price-fixing, creating and maintaining barriers to entry of industry, and other subtle self-serving anti-competitive activities not in the public interest.

Anti-competitive activity

Jon Leibowitz, a commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission in the United States, outlined the potentially anti-competitive nature of some trade association activity in a speech to the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of acad ...

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, in March 2005 called "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Trade Associations and Antitrust". For instance, he said that under the guise of "standard setting," trade associations representing the established players in an industry can set rules that make it harder for new companies to enter a market.

Cartels

In September 2007, the German trade association for Fachverband Verbindungs- und Befestigungstechnik (VBT) and five fastener companies were fined 303 million euros by the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

for operating cartels in the markets for fasteners and attaching machines in Europe and worldwide. In one of the cartels, the YKK Group, Coats plc, the Prym group, the Scovill group, A. Raymond, and Berning & Söhne "agreed ..on coordinated price increases in annual 'price rounds' with respect to 'other fasteners' and their attaching machines, in the framework of work circles organised by VBT".

Copyright trade groups

* IFPI, the International Federation of Phonogram and Videogram Producers, represents the recording industry worldwide, with over 1450 members in 75 countries and affiliated industry associations in 48 countries. The IFPI works in partnership with similar national organizations: **

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

(RIAA) represents the recording industry in the United States ** ASINCOL, the Colombian Association of Phonograph Producers, Colombian music industry association **

Music Canada Music Canada (formerly Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA)) is a non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, manufacture, produce, and distribute music in Canada. It ...

, formerly known as the Canadian Recording Industry Association is the non-profit trade organization representing the largest Canadian companies that create, manufacture and market sound recordings ** Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ), non-profit trade association of producers and artists in New Zealand ** Mexican Association of Producers of Phonograms and Videograms (AMPROFON) * Motion Picture Association (MPA) represents the film industry in the United States * The Association of Japanese Animations (AJA), a group consisting of small to medium-sized intellectual property companies * Business Software Alliance (BSA) promotes the intellectual property of software developers * Entertainment Software Association (ESA) promotes the intellectual property of game developers in the United States *

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company wi ...

(BPI), UK music industry association. Founded the BRIT Awards, and give Gold, Silver and Platinum disks for UK-based sales * Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) is the main UK anti-copyright infringement organization, mainly for films *

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replac ...

(ARIA), oversees the collection, administration and distribution of music licenses and royalties in Australia * Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers (JASRAC) *

Recording Industry Association of Japan The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include p ...

(RIAJ) * Russian Organization for Multimedia and Digital Systems (ROMS) organization on collective management of rights of authors and other rightholders in multimedia, digital networks and visual arts *

Anti Video Piracy Association of Singapore Anti Video Piracy Association of Singapore (AVPAS) is a copy protection consortium with other anime producers founded by Odex on 30 July 2003. The association lists over 400 titles (as of 25 May 2007) and is supported by at least one governmenta ...

(AVPAS) for anime * GEMA society for musical performing and mechanical reproduction rights in Germany