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Competition Policy in Oecd Countries

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Competition Policy in Oecd Countries Unclassified DAFFE/CLP(99)23 Organisation de Coopération et de Développement Economiques OLIS : 10-Sep-1999 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Dist. : 17-Sep-1999 __________________________________________________________________________________________ Or. Eng./Fre. DIRECTORATE FOR FINANCIAL, FISCAL AND ENTERPRISE AFFAIRS Unclassified DAFFE/CLP(99)23 COMMITTEE ON COMPETITION LAW AND POLICY COMPETITION POLICY IN OECD COUNTRIES 1996-1997 Or. Eng./Fre. Or. 81332 Document complet disponible sur OLIS dans son format d'origine Complete document available on OLIS in its original format DAFFE/CLP(99)23 Copyright OECD, 1999 Applications for permission to reproduce or translate all or part of this material should be made to: Head of Publications Service, OECD, 2 rue André-Pascal, 75775 - Paris Cedex 16, France. Disclaimer The OECD is not responsible for the quality of the English translation which remains with the concerned Member countries. 2 DAFFE/CLP(99)23 FOREWORD This General Distribution document contains reports by OECD Member countries presented to the Committee on Competition Law and Policy in 1997. Depending on the countries, these reports cover the period 1996, 1997 or both, and for each, the review period is clarified in a footnote. In addition, the annual reports for the Slovak Republic and the Russian Federation are included here. The compilation of these reports which are made available to the public by individual governments, are preceeded by a summary of main developments highlighting new features in competition law and policy and recent trends in enforcement practice. Competition policy during the review period focused once again on the investigation and prosecution of horizontal and vertical restrictions and on the supervision over mergers which might have anticompetitive effects. Visit our Internet Site http://www.oecd.org/daf/clp 3 DAFFE/CLP(99)23 4 DAFFE/CLP(99)23 TABLE OF CONTENTS MAIN DEVELOPMENTS IN COMPETITION POLICY IN 1996-97.................................................. 7 AUSTRALIA......................................................................................................................................... 21 AUSTRIA.............................................................................................................................................. 41 CANADA .............................................................................................................................................. 51 CZECH REPUBLIC.............................................................................................................................. 71 DENMARK........................................................................................................................................... 83 FINLAND.............................................................................................................................................. 93 FRANCE ............................................................................................................................................. 101 GERMANY......................................................................................................................................... 123 GREECE.............................................................................................................................................. 139 HUNGARY ......................................................................................................................................... 145 IRELAND............................................................................................................................................ 155 ITALY ................................................................................................................................................. 165 JAPAN................................................................................................................................................. 185 KOREA ............................................................................................................................................... 205 LUXEMBOURG ................................................................................................................................. 215 MEXICO ............................................................................................................................................. 217 NETHERLANDS ................................................................................................................................ 233 NEW ZEALAND ................................................................................................................................ 259 NORWAY ........................................................................................................................................... 265 POLAND............................................................................................................................................. 277 PORTUGAL........................................................................................................................................ 287 SPAIN.................................................................................................................................................. 297 SWEDEN............................................................................................................................................. 311 SWITZERLAND................................................................................................................................. 325 TURKEY............................................................................................................................................. 361 UNITED KINGDOM .......................................................................................................................... 367 UNITED STATES............................................................................................................................... 385 EUROPEAN COMMISSION ............................................................................................................. 407 RUSSIAN FEDERATION .................................................................................................................. 425 SLOVAK REPUBLIC......................................................................................................................... 441 INDEX................................................................................................................................................. 456 5 DAFFE/CLP(99)23 6 DAFFE/CLP(99)23 MAIN DEVELOPMENTS IN COMPETITION POLICY IN 1996 AND 1997 1. Summary Twenty-seven Member countries, along with the European Union, the Russian Federation and the Slovak Republic, submitted reports on their activities for the years 1996 and 19971. All these reports were presented to the Committee on Competition Law and Policy in 1997. There were initiatives leading to the adoption or entry into force of new competition-related legislation in Hungary, Italy and Switzerland; major amendments were made to existing laws in the Czech Republic, France, Ireland, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Spain, the United Kingdom and Russia. Two countries—Canada and Sweden—envisaged changes to their competition law. To facilitate compliance with its legislation, the United States published guidelines to foster innovation in the health care sector. In addition, the European Commission published four interpretative notices on the distinction between concentrative and co-operative joint ventures, the concepts of concentration and undertakings concerned, and the calculation of turnover. Although deregulation and privatisation have had a great impact on laws, regulation and procedural rules, all countries were active in enforcement. Efforts were not spared to counter practices constituting horizontal or vertical restraints on competition. Supervision over mergers which might have anticompetitive effects continued. 2. Changes to competition laws and policies adopted or envisaged In Australia, the main changes to competition law having already been made (see the OECD report covering 1995-96), only secondary amendments were introduced, to: i) specify powers and enforcement procedures for competition law; ii) extend the scope of application of competition law to the entire business sector; iii) enact provisions relating to boycotts; and iv) supplement the guidelines for mergers. In addition, improvements were made to the national access regime under the Trade Practices Act. In Austria, no amendments to competition law were made during the period under review. In Canada, a bill was presented to the House of Commons on 7 November 1996 to update the Competition Act, in order to reflect new market trends and enforcement requirements. The main changes involved the settlement of cases involving misleading advertising or deceptive marketing practices, remedies for deceptive telemarketing practices, and the administrative processing of prior notifications of mergers. The Czech Republic, in November 1996, instituted the Office for the Protection of Economic Competition (the “Office”), which assumed the responsibilities of the former Ministry of Competition. During the period under review, while there were no changes to national competition law, an important step was taken towards harmonisation with EU legislation. The rules for the application of competition- related provisions
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