Legislative declarations; statutory construction

(1) The Legislature hereby declares that the purpose of this article is to complement the body of federal law governing unfair competition and unfair, deceptive and fraudulent acts or practices in order to protect the public and foster fair and honest competition. It is the intent of the Legislature that, in construing this article, the courts be guided by the policies of the Federal Trade Commission and interpretations given by the Federal Trade Commission and the federal courts to Section 5(a)(1) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U. S. C. § 45(a)(1)), as from time to time amended, and to the various other federal statutes dealing with the same or similar matters. To this end, this article shall be liberally construed so that its beneficial purposes may be served. (2) It is, however, the further intent of the Legislature that this article not be construed to prohibit acts or practices which are reasonable in relation to the development and preservation of business or which are not injurious to the public interest, nor does this article repeal by implication the provisions of articles eleven, eleven-a and eleven-b, chapter forty-seven of this code.