[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-1-en-105":3,"doc-seo-281734-105":53,"doc-detail-281734-en":126},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,14,19,24,29,34,39,44,49],{"id":8,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":11,"show_sort_weight":12,"slug":13},11,1,"Template","Presentations",90,"presentations",{"id":15,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":16,"show_sort_weight":17,"slug":18},12,"Resumes",80,"resumes",{"id":20,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":21,"show_sort_weight":22,"slug":23},14,"Invoices",70,"invoices",{"id":25,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":26,"show_sort_weight":27,"slug":28},15,"Posters",60,"posters",{"id":30,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":31,"show_sort_weight":32,"slug":33},16,"Social Media",50,"social-media",{"id":35,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":36,"show_sort_weight":37,"slug":38},17,"Forms",40,"forms",{"id":40,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":41,"show_sort_weight":42,"slug":43},18,"Letters",30,"letters",{"id":45,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":46,"show_sort_weight":47,"slug":48},21,"Paper Templates",5,"papers-templates",{"id":50,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":51,"show_sort_weight":4,"slug":52},158,"General","general-158",{"code":4,"msg":54,"data":55},"ok",{"site_id":56,"language":57,"slug":58,"title":59,"keywords":60,"description":61,"schema_data":62,"social_meta":119,"head_meta":121,"extra_data":123,"updated_unix":125},105,"en","costco-letter-re-antitrust-and-consumer-protection-concerns-legal-notice","Costco Letter - Re: Antitrust and consumer protection concerns - Legal notice","","Letter addressed to Costco from multiple state Attorneys General regarding written notice on October 29, 2025. It raises antitrust and consumer protection concerns under the Sherman Act about policies, coordinated initiatives, and compliance frameworks promoted by several participating industry organizations. The letter warns that continued adherence, coordination, or reliance may create liability for unlawful restraints of trade and applicable consumer protection statutes. It advises preserving relevant documents, communications, and data and anticipates possible investigative demands or subpoenas.",{"@graph":63,"@context":118},[64,80,101],{"@type":65,"itemListElement":66},"BreadcrumbList",[67,71,74,77],{"item":68,"name":69,"@type":70,"position":9},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":72,"name":10,"@type":70,"position":73},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/",2,{"item":75,"name":41,"@type":70,"position":76},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/letters/",3,{"item":78,"name":59,"@type":70,"position":79},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/costco-letter-re-antitrust-and-consumer-protection-concerns-legal-notice/281734/",4,{"url":78,"name":59,"@type":81,"image":82,"author":87,"headline":59,"publisher":90,"fileFormat":93,"inLanguage":57,"description":61,"dateModified":94,"datePublished":95,"encodingFormat":93,"isAccessibleForFree":96,"interactionStatistic":97},"DigitalDocument",{"url":83,"@type":84,"width":85,"height":86},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/costco-letter-re-antitrust-and-consumer-protection-concerns-legal-notice/281734.png","ImageObject",442,249,{"name":88,"@type":89},"Rizky","Person",{"url":68,"name":91,"@type":92},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-20","2026-09-16",true,{"@type":98,"interactionType":99,"userInteractionCount":15},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":100},"ViewAction",{"@type":102,"mainEntity":103},"FAQPage",[104,110,114],{"name":105,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":107},"Why is Costco receiving this letter?","Question",{"text":108,"@type":109},"Costco is identified as a current member (or participant) in one or more organizations whose policies and coordinated practices were formally flagged for potential antitrust and consumer protection issues.","Answer",{"name":111,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":112},"What legal concerns are raised in the letter?",{"text":113,"@type":109},"The letter alleges the promoted policies and coordinated initiatives may constitute unlawful restraints of trade under the Sherman Antitrust Act, and that participating conduct and representations may also implicate consumer protection laws.",{"name":115,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What actions does the letter advise Costco to take?",{"text":117,"@type":109},"Costco is advised to preserve documents, communications, and data relevant to the matters and to reasonably anticipate possible investigative demands, subpoenas, or other compulsory legal process.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":78,"og:type":120,"og:title":59,"og:site_name":91,"og:description":61},"article",{"robots":122,"canonical":78},"index,follow",{"doc_id":124,"site_id":56},281734,1790283145,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":127},{"doc_id":124,"user_id":128,"nickname":88,"user_avatar":129,"doc_module":9,"category_id":40,"category_name":41,"doc_title":59,"doc_description":61,"doc_content":130,"file_id":131,"file_url":132,"file_type":133,"file_size":134,"view_count":15,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":9,"is_downloadable":9,"audit_status":9,"page_count":47,"language":135,"language_code":57,"site_id":56,"html_lang":57,"table_of_contents":136,"faqs":137,"seo_title":138,"seo_description":61,"update_tm":139,"read_time":73},962085564807,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8","February 10, 2026  \nJohn Sullivan  \nCostco  \n999 Lake Drive  \nIssaquah, WA 98027  \nRe: Antitrust and consumer protection concerns  \nDear Costco:  \nOn October 29, 2025, the U.S. Plastics Pact, the Consumer Goods Forum, and the Sustainable Packaging Coalition were formally notified in writing that Attorneys General of several States have grave concerns that the policies, coordinated initiatives, and compliance frameworks these organizations promote and prescribe to their members may constitute unlawful restraints of trade in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. Those notices further advised that participating companies’ related conduct and representations may also implicate applicable state and federal consumer protection laws.  \nYou are receiving this letter because you have been identified as a current member of one or more of those organizations and may be participating in, implementing, or enforcing the policies and coordinated practices identified in the October 29 notices. You are hereby placed on notice that continued adherence to, coordination under, or reliance upon these policies may expose your organization to liability under the Sherman Act, state antitrust laws, and applicable consumer protection statutes. Membership in, or guidance from, an industry association does not immunize anticompetitive conduct or consumer harm from enforcement scrutiny.  \nAccordingly, you should reasonably anticipate that the undersigned States may seek additional information regarding your organization’s participation in these initiatives, including through formal investigative demands, subpoenas, or other compulsory legal process, and you are advised to take all necessary steps to preserve documents, communications, and data relevant to these matters.  \nMultiple advocacy organizations have cropped up to pressure companies into artificially changing the output and quality of their goods and services in way that normal market forces would not otherwise bring about. For example, the UN Environment Programme and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation advocate for a “New Plastics Economy Global Commitment,” which seeks “to change how we produce, use, and reuse plastic” by, among other things,“eliminat[ing] the plastics we don’t need.”1 The U. S. Plastics Pact has issued “targets”that its members must agree to reach, which include eliminating certain “problematic or unnecessary” plastic packaging and reaching artificial product content and recyclability goals.2 Similarly, GreenBlue’s Sustainable Packaging Coalition desires “alternative ways to approach the package/product system.”3 And The Consumer Goods Forum is seeking to “transform[] how our industry designs, produces and manages plastic packaging in order to accelerate progress towards our vision of a circular economy.”4 These advocacy organizations want to remove products from the market without considering consumer demand, product effectiveness, or the cost and impact on consumers of a replacement product.  \nThese advocacy organizations depend on “collective action” to achieve their consumerunfriendly objectives.5 For example, U. S. Plastics Pact recognizes that “[o]ur individual actions and piecemeal activities alone will not get us any closer to a circular economy for plastics”6 and “will not achieve these targets.”7 The Consumer Goods Forum likewise recognizes that “under different circumstances,” the companies in these projects “might not normally have come together to act.”8 These advocacy organizations have all the trappings of the sort of “adverse, anti-competitive effects” that the antitrust laws seek to prevent.9  \nThis form of collective, coordinated action closely parallels recent industry initiatives advanced under the “net-zero” banner that prompted substantial legal scrutiny by State Attorneys General. In those instances, Attorneys General raised serious antitrust, fiduciary, and consumer protection concerns regarding the participation of insurers in the Net-Zero Insurance Allia","cbCaigYjJfL2dhVg","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaigYjJfL2dhVg","pdf",361402,"English","# Re: Antitrust and consumer protection concerns\n## Notice of alleged unlawful restraints of trade\n## Potential consumer protection law implications\n## Risk of liability and enforcement actions\n## Preservation of records and legal process\n## Parallels to prior net-zero alliance scrutiny","[{\"question\":\"Why is Costco receiving this letter?\",\"answer\":\"Costco is identified as a current member (or participant) in one or more organizations whose policies and coordinated practices were formally flagged for potential antitrust and consumer protection issues.\"},{\"question\":\"What legal concerns are raised in the letter?\",\"answer\":\"The letter alleges the promoted policies and coordinated initiatives may constitute unlawful restraints of trade under the Sherman Antitrust Act, and that participating conduct and representations may also implicate consumer protection laws.\"},{\"question\":\"What actions does the letter advise Costco to take?\",\"answer\":\"Costco is advised to preserve documents, communications, and data relevant to the matters and to reasonably anticipate possible investigative demands, subpoenas, or other compulsory legal process.\"}]","Costco Letter - Re: Antitrust and consumer protection concerns - Legal notice | PDF",1789567819]