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Competition Issues
August 2009 |
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MRTPC to Wound up in Two Years
The Hindu, August 30,
2009
Having served the nation for almost four decades,
anti-monopoly watchdog of India, Monopolies and
Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC)
will cease to exist two years from now as the
government has decided to notify Section 66 of the
Competition Act on September 01, 2009. <<More>>
Criminalisation of Cartel – Now a Reality
Competition Brief,
August 29, 2009
South African President Jacob Zuma has signed the
Competition Amendment Bill into law. The bill
makes directors of companies criminally liable if
they are aware of anti-competitive practices
within their firm. <<More>>
Maintenance of Resale Price – Nice?
International Law
Office, August 27, 2009
Online sales and resale price maintenance are
under debate in the European Commission's review
of the Block Exemption Regulation on Vertical
Agreements. Dutch Competition Authority recently
decided not to pursue an investigation into
possible anti-competitive practices with regard to
online sales. <<More>>
New Law to Prevent Unfair Competition
Konkurrensverket Swedish
Competition Authority, August 27, 2009
Swedish government bodies can in future be
prevented from engaging in business activities
that distort competition. This is the implication
of a legislative proposal that the Government has
just presented to the Riksdag (parliament). <<More>>
Out-of-Court Settlment
Antimonopoly Office of
the Slovakian Republic, August 26, 2009
Division of Agreements Restricting Competition of
the Antimonopoly Office of the Slovakian Republic
imposed the total fine in amount of US$108,810.56
on the producer of electronic registration cash
desks and its distributors for a conclusion of
agreement restricting competition. <<More>>
Termination of Agreement with Sugar Mills
Daily Times, August 25,
2009
The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has
termed the agreement on sugar between government
and sugar millers as violation of competition
policy. CCP has issued a policy note to the
federal government recommending it to terminate
the agreement between the All Pakistan Sugar Mills
Association and the Ministry of Industries and
Production. <<More>>
DoJ Microsemi Settle
Tmcnet.com, August 20,
2009
The US Department of Justice (DoJ) announced that
it has reached a proposed settlement with
Microsemi Corporation that requires the company to
divest all of the assets that it acquired from
Semicoa Inc. DoJ said that without this
divestiture, there would be little or no
competition in the development, manufacture and
sale of certain semiconductor devices used in
military and space programs essential to the
security of the US. <<More>>
Commission Publishes 2008 Annual Report
Europa Press Releases,
August 19, 2009
The European Commission's 2008 Report on
Competition Policy gives an overview of the main
developments in EU competition policy and major
enforcement actions. It demonstrates how the tools
of competition policy were used to face the
financial and economic crisis and highlights the
benefits that competition policy delivers to
consumers. <<More>>
Director Disqualification Powers
Office of Fair Trading,
August 18, 2009
The OFT has published proposed changes to its
guidance on director disqualification orders in
competition law cases. A company director can be
disqualified from acting as a director for up to
15 years if his or her company is involved in a
breach of competition law and the court considers
he/ she is unfit to be involved in the management
of a company as a result. <<More>>
CC Welcomes New Council Members
Competition Commission,
August 18, 2009
Peter Freeman, Chairman of the UK Competition
Commission (CC), has welcomed the appointment of
three new members to the CC Council. The new
members, whose appointments have been made by the
Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS),
are Grey Denham, Lesley Watkins and Brian Woods-Scawen.
<<More>>
New Rules Provide Partial Clarification
Mondaq.com, August 17,
2009
Due to the lack of detailed implementation rules,
the new Chinese Anti-monopoly law (the "AML") is
still not fully enforced in China, even one year
after coming into effect. To further progress the
enforcement of the AML, the Chinese authorities
recently promulgated several implementation rules
to clarify some important issues. <<More>>
Striving for Financial Self-sufficiency
Dailymail, August 16,
2009
The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) is
still striving for attaining financial
self-sufficiency as the regulatory bodies have not
so far started paying the fixed percentage of
their fees to the commission as directed by the
Competition Law 2007. The Competition Act 2007
envisages the Commission to generate its own
revenues by collecting fees from regulatory
authorities. <<More>>
Millers Oppose Grain Handling Monopoly
Allafrica.com, August
16, 2009
The Cereal Millers Association is lobbying the
Kenya Government to allow private investors to
build bulk grain handling terminals in Mombasa to
make the sub-sector more competitive. Association
chairman, Diamond Lalji, said competition will
reduce time for off-loading cargo and demurrage
costs for grain and fertiliser among others. <<More>>
Watchdog Allows TV Firms Two-year Monopoly
Independent.ie, August
15, 2009
The Competition Authority of Ireland has cleared
the way for TV companies to have a monopoly over
individual apartment blocks for up to two years.
The decision will provoke outrage among apartment
dwellers whose complaints about not being allowed
to switch to a cheaper or better TV provider
prompted the watchdog's probe. <<More>>
Consumer Protection Law Soon
Caribbean360.com, August
14, 2009
The Guyana government has committed to taking
consumer protection legislation to parliament
before the end of 2009. Minister of Tourism,
Industry and Commerce, Manniram Prashad said his
ministry is currently drafting the law. <<More>>
Rules on Monopoly Price
Caijing.com.cn, August
13, 2009
The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC),
China's state economic planner, has issued draft
rules on monopoly prices covering companies,
government agencies and industry associations. the
NDRC said the rules extend to instances of price
collusion overseas, provided there is an impact on
the domestic market. <<More>>
Best Practices
Norwegian Competition
Authority, August 14, 2009
The Obama administration will take an extensive
look at concentration in US agriculture as part of
its increased emphasis on antitrust enforcement.
federal antitrust regulators are "committed to
examining" the level of competition in several
agribusiness sectors, such as the marketing of
genetically modified seed, dairy processing and
meatpacking. <<More>>
Antitrust Enforcers Begin Visiting Farm Belt
The Wall Street Journal,
August 08, 2009
The Obama administration will take an extensive
look at concentration in US agriculture as part of
its increased emphasis on antitrust enforcement.
federal antitrust regulators are "committed to
examining" the level of competition in several
agribusiness sectors, such as the marketing of
genetically modified seed, dairy processing and
meatpacking. <<More>>
New Notification Threshold
International Law
Office, August 06, 2009
At the end of June 2009 the Competition Law of
Latvia was amended once again, the third amendment
within 18 months. All of the amendments have dealt
in part with merger notification thresholds. <<More>>
Access To Lignite
Global Antitrust Weekly,
August 06, 2009
Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes commented:
“The Commission's decision makes sure that
competitors of Public Power Corporation will get
fair access to lignite, which is crucial to allow
new entrants into the Greek electricity generation
market.” <<More>>
Probe into Google/Apple To Continue
Guardian.co.uk,
August 06, 2009
Apple announced that Eric E. Schmidt, Chief
Executive Officer of Google, was stepping down
from its board. Arthur Levinson still serves on
both boards, and the Consumer Watchdog called on
him to choose one or the other. <<More>>
Manoim Replaces Lewis
Moneyweb.co.za, August
06, 2009
Norman Manoim, a lawyer who has been sitting on
the Competition Tribunal since it was founded in
1999, has taken over from David Lewis as the
Tribunal’s chairman. Manoim helped draft the
Competition Act, and prior to that was a partner
at Cheadle Haysom Thompson. <<More>>
Paraffin Wax
hausfeldllp.com, August
05, 2009
International claimant law firm Hausfeld & Co LLP
(Hausfeld) has commenced proceedings against
industry giants Shell and Exxon Mobil for their
involvement in the paraffin wax price fixing
cartel. The cartel took place throughout Europe
for a period of 13 years between 1992 and 2005 and
involved seven other major producers of paraffin
wax. <<More>>
New Appointee to the Bureau
Industry Canada, August
06, 2009
The Competition Bureau Canada is an independent
law enforcement agency that contributes to the
prosperity of Canadians by protecting and
promoting competitive markets and informed
consumer choice. <<More>>
Grocery Ombudsman
competition-commission.org.uk,
August 06, 2009
The UK Competition Commission has formally
recommended to the Department for Business,
Innovation and Skills (BIS) that it should
establish an Ombudsman to arbitrate on disputes
between grocery retailers and suppliers and
investigate complaints under the new Groceries
Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP). <<More>>
Scrap MRTPC
Economictimes, August
01, 2009
Now that the Competition Commission of India (CCI)
has been functional with a full time chairman and
several members for about five months, there is
little sense to keep the Monopolies and
Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC)
alive. <<More>>
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