The Competition Commission of Mauritius (“CCM”) has announced that it will, on an exceptional and temporary basis, run a Guidance Programme in relation to proposed Coronavirus (COVID-19) related collaborations between enterprises until 11 December 2020.
Enterprises that may benefit from the Guidance Programme are those whose proposed collaboration is in response to and directly related to the COVID-19 situation. The guidance provided will assist enterprises in determining the lawfulness of their proposed collaborations having regard to the prohibitions under the Competition Act 2007, and, in particular, those relating to price fixing, market sharing, restriction of supply, bid rigging and resale price maintenance.
In its review of enterprises' requests for guidance, the CCM has indicated that it will consider whether the proposed collaboration is necessary and whether it does not exceed what is strictly necessary to achieve the enterprises' legitimate objectives. In accordance with the announcement of the CCM, any guidance given will be on an informal and non-binding basis. As such, notwithstanding the guidance offered by the CCM, the Executive Director of the CCM retains the power to investigate a collaboration if he has reasonable grounds to believe that a restrictive business practice is occurring or about to occur by virtue of the collaboration.
Any request for guidance must be made jointly by all parties to the proposed collaboration and will be dealt with by the CCM, as far as practicable, within 21 working days.
The Guidance Programme and the application form are available on the CCM's website.
Originally published by ENSafrica, July 2020
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