Source: http://docplayer.fr/1051592-Conference-des-nations-unies-sur-le-commerce-et-le-developpement.html
Timestamp: 2018-01-17 06:13:16+00:00
Document Index: 270812263

Matched Legal Cases: ['art. 8', 'art. 10', 'art. 12', 'art. 13', 'art. 14', 'art. 4', 'art. 166', 'art. 158', 'art. 6', 'art. 7']

1 NATIONS UNIES TD Conférence des Nations Unies sur le commerce et le développement Distr. GÉNÉRALE TD/B/COM.2/CLP/17 12 février 2001 FRANÇAIS Original : ANGLAIS/FRANÇAIS CONSEIL DU COMMERCE ET DU DÉVELOPPEMENT COMMISSION DU COMMERCE DES BIENS ET SERVICES, ET DES PRODUITS DE BASE DROIT DE LA CONCURRENCE : QUESTIONS REVÊTANT UNE IMPORTANCE PARTICULIÈRE POUR LE DÉVELOPPEMENT ÉTABLISSEMENT D'UN MANUEL SUR LE DROIT DE LA CONCURRENCE Manuel sur le droit de la concurrence Note du secrétariat de la CNUCED GE (F)
2 page 2 TABLE DES MATIÈRES INTRODUCTION... 3 MODE DE PRÉSENTATION DES RENSEIGNEMENTS À FOURNIR POUR LE MANUEL... 4 COMMENTARIES ON COMPETITION LEGISLATION... 5 I. Commentary by the Government of Georgia on Law on Monopoly Activity and Competition... 5 Page II. III. Commentary by the Government of Morocco on "Loi sur la liberté des prix et de la concurrence Commentary by the Government of Ukraine on the Antimonopoly Legislation of Ukraine Annexes I. Georgia - Law of the Republic of Georgia on "Monopoly Activity and Competition" II. Maroc - Loi No sur la liberté des prix et de la concurrence III. Ukraine - Law of Ukraine on Limitation of Monopolism and Prevention of Unfair Competition in Entrepreneurial Activities Law of Ukraine on the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine Law of Ukraine on Protection against Unfair Competition... 90
3 page 3 INTRODUCTION 1. L'Ensemble de principes et de règles équitables convenus au niveau multilatéral pour le contrôle des pratiques commerciales restrictives prévoit, à la section F.6 c), l'établissement d'un manuel des législations appliquées en matière de pratiques commerciales restrictives. 2. En outre, la quatrième Conférence des Nations Unies chargée de revoir tous les aspects de l'ensemble, qui s'est tenue à Genève du 25 au 29 septembre 2000, a prié le secrétariat de la CNUCED de continuer à publier de nouvelles livraisons du Manuel des législations appliquées en matière de concurrence, y compris des instruments régionaux et internationaux, qui devrait être complété par un résumé des principales dispositions des lois sur la concurrence, établi à partir de communications des États membres (voir la résolution adoptée par la Conférence, TD/RBP/CONF.5/16). 3. Le secrétariat a donc établi la présente note qui contient les commentaires de la Géorgie, du Maroc et de l'ukraine * sur leur législation en matière de concurrence, ainsi que les textes législatifs eux-mêmes. 4. À ce jour, le secrétariat de la CNUCED a publié des notes présentant le texte et le commentaire des lois sur la concurrence et les pratiques commerciales restrictives de 42 pays : Afrique du Sud, Algérie, Allemagne, Belgique, Brésil, Bulgarie, Canada, Chili, Colombie, Côte d'ivoire, Croatie, Danemark, Espagne, États-Unis d'amérique, Finlande, France, Géorgie, Hongrie, Italie, Jamaïque, Japon, Kenya, Lituanie, Maroc, Mexique, Norvège, Pakistan, Pologne, Portugal, République de Corée, République tchèque, Roumanie, Royaume-Uni de Grande-Bretagne et d'irlande du Nord, Sénégal, Slovaquie, Sri Lanka, Suède, Tunisie, Turquie, Ukraine, Venezuela et Zambie. 5. Le Secrétaire général de la CNUCED, dans une note du 8 mars 1996, a prié les États membres qui ne l'avaient pas encore fait ainsi que ceux qui avaient modifié leur législation sur la concurrence ou adopté des dispositions nouvelles depuis leur dernière communication au secrétariat de la CNUCED, de fournir à celui-ci le texte de leurs lois et décisions judiciaires, accompagné de commentaires, selon le mode de présentation prescrit (voir ci-après) (dans le cas des États qui ont adopté de telles lois pour la première fois, cependant, la présentation des commentaires peut s'écarter de ce modèle). Pour faciliter la publication des textes législatifs dans plusieurs langues officielles de l'onu, les États ont été invités à fournir si possible des traductions dans au moins une autre de ces langues. 6. Le secrétariat remercie les États qui lui ont envoyé les renseignements demandés pour l'établissement du Manuel, et invite de nouveau ceux qui ne l'ont pas encore fait à répondre à la demande du Secrétaire général de la CNUCED. * Les communications sont reproduites telles quelles, dans la langue originale.
4 page 4 MODE DE PRESENTATION DES RENSEIGNEMENTS À FOURNIR POUR LE MANUEL A. Exposé des raisons qui ont motivé l'adoption de la législation. B. Description des objectifs de la législation et de leur évolution depuis l'adoption de la législation initiale. C. Description des pratiques, actes ou comportements soumis au contrôle, en indiquant pour chacun : a) Le type de contrôle - par exemple interdiction pure et simple, interdiction de principe ou examen cas par cas; b) La mesure dans laquelle les pratiques, actes ou comportements visés aux paragraphes 3 et 4 de la section D de l'ensemble de principes et de règles sont soumis à ce contrôle, ainsi que les autres pratiques, actes ou comportements susceptibles d'y être assujettis et ceux qui font l'objet de mesures expressément liées à la protection du consommateur, comme la lutte contre la publicité mensongère. D. Description du champ d'application de la législation, en indiquant : a) Si elle est applicable à toutes les transactions portant sur des biens et des services et, dans la négative, quelles transactions sont exclues; b) Si elle s'applique à la totalité des pratiques, actes ou comportements ayant des effets sur le pays, quelle qu'en soit l'origine géographique; c) Si elle dépend de l'existence d'un accord, ou de l'entrée en vigueur dudit accord. E. Description du mécanisme (administratif et/ou judiciaire) d'application, en indiquant les éventuels accords de notification et d'enregistrement et les principaux pouvoirs de l'organe ou des organes compétents. F. Description de toute législation parallèle ou supplémentaire, y compris des traités ou conventions avec d'autres pays, prévoyant une coopération ou des procédures pour régler les différends dans le domaine des pratiques commerciales restrictives. G. Description des principales décisions prises par les organes administratifs et/ou judiciaires, et des questions qui en font expressément l'objet. H. Bibliographie succincte donnant la référence des textes législatifs et des principales décisions, ainsi que les documents explicatifs publiés par les pouvoirs publics, ou les textes législatifs ou certains passages de ces textes.
5 COMMENTARIES ON COMPETITION LEGISLATION TD/B/COM.2/CLP/17 page 5 I. COMMENTARY BY THE GOVERNMENT OF GEORGIA ON THE LAW ON MONOPOLY ACTIVITY AND COMPETITION A. Description of the reasons of legislation enforcement It is notorious that the market forces by themselves are not protected from the actions restricting the competition. Therefore the main task of every State is to protect the agents in the market against any manifestation of antimonopolism including constraints of competition and unfair competition between the entrepreneurs. The mentioned task is urgent for the economies of the countries especially for the countries having a strictly monopolized past as it was in the case of the former Soviet Union countries including Georgia. At the initial step of transition to the market economy the primary task is to create appropriate legislative and institutional bases (taking into account the heredity of course). In such a situation in February 1992 a new section - the Antimonopoly Department has been created within the Ministry of Economy of Georgia, the main task of which was restriction of monopolism, competition promotion, entrepreneurs support and consumer protection. On 17 March 1992 was adopted the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Georgia N323 on measures for demonopolization of the national economy. In September 1992 the decree on Restriction of Monopoly Activity and Competition - the first act in that sphere, has been promulgated. Later on (in 1996) the Law on Monopoly Activity and Competition was adopted. B. Description of the reasons of legislation enforcement (a) The Law of Georgia On Monopoly Activity and Competition prohibits the agreements or adoption of decisions leading to the restriction of competition (art. 8); according to that Law the unfair competition is prohibited as well; moreover the executive authorities are banned from adopting such decisions which may provoke competition restriction except the cases stipulated by the Law (art. 10). The consent between non-competitive agents, among whom one holds already a monopolistic position but another is his supplier or consumer, is prohibited (art. 12). The Law bans misuse of monopolistic positions which provoke or may provoke the infringement of rights of the economic agents or consumers (art. 13). In a case of union of monopolistic agents the Law envisages the necessity of antimonopoly experts (art. 14). The Antimonopoly Service is obliged to observe the antimonopoly legislation, to consider the statements and applications and respond to the applicants within 30 days from the date of their receipt.
6 page 6 C. Description of sphere of application of legislation The sphere of implementation of the Law is defined as follows (art. 4). 1. This Law affects the relations which exert influence on competition in the commodity market (production, work, service) and in which the legal and physical bodies (including foreign ones) and the government agencies of Georgia take part: ministries, other departments and institutions of local government at any level of territorial units. 2. The Law envisages the cases when the actions out of the limits of Georgia or agreements signed by the mentioned bodies restrict (or may restrict) competition or exert a negative influence on the commodity market of the country. Article 5 of this Law stipulates: The relations having regard to monopolistic position and unfair competititon in the market of securities and financial services shall be regulated by appropriate legislative acts except the cases when these relations affect the competition in the commodity market of the country. The Law refers to the cases when the actions carried out or agreements signed by the mentioned bodies outside the limits of Georgia restrict (or may restrict) competition or exert a negative influence on the commodity market of the country. As for the agreements Article 7 of the Law Stipulates: that if in the scope of activity of the Antimonopoly Service of Georgia the rules stipulated by the international agreement differ from those determined in this Law then the rules of international agreement obtain the priority. D. Description of mechanisms of compulsion Article 24 of this Law stipulates that: the implementation of decisions made by the Antimonopoly Service within its competence is compulsory for economic agents as well as for appropriate State bodies. In order to observe the antimonopoly legislation the appropriate amendments are made to the Code of Administrative Infringement of the Law, to the Criminal and Procedure Codes. Namely, the Criminal Code of Georgia (Art ) stipulates: signing of agreements or adoption of resolutions provoking the restriction of competition in the market for conservation of influence is penalized in the amount of one thousand five hundred to three thousand minimum units of labour payment; the same actions carried out several times or by a group of persons, or which was followed by an economic effect are to be punished by five years imprisonment and are not permitted to keep a specified post or to carry out a specified activity. Moreover, the illegal use of others trade marks is banned (as an example of unfair competition) (art. 166).
7 page 7 The illegal use of a trade (service) mark, of a registered firm s name or of commodity marking after appropriate administrative measures is penalized in the amount of one thousand to two thousand minimum units of labour payment. The same action made several times or which has provoked serious damage is to be punished by imprisonment for five years. According to the Code of Administrative Infringement of the Law the illegal use of others trade (service) marks, a registered firm s name or commodity marking is penalized by 40 minimum units of labour payment (art. 158). The Law envisages as well the responsibility of officials of the Antimonopoly Service of Georgia to implement the requirements concerning the observation of the Law, namely, the Article (158-2) stipulates: the implementation of the requirements of the State Antimonopoly Service of Georgia concerning the observation of the Law relative to the fact of cessation of violation of the Antimonopoly Law, Laws on Consumer Protection and Advertising envisages the penalties to the legal bodies in the amount of Laris, to the executives of the enterprises, institutions and organizations in the amount of 3,000 Laris. According to Article of the Code of Administrative Infringement of the Law, the Antimonopoly Service is responsible for providing the information stipulated by the Law. E. The requirement to protect competition is stipulated also in other Laws of Georgia. For instance, according to Article 22 of the Law on Activity of Commercial Banks banks are prohibited from making such deals when they independently or together with other bodies may find themselves in a dominant position in the market of money, finance or credit; they are prohibited as well from acting in such a way that they or third persons might be in a position to have an undeserved advantage of restricting the competition in the sphere of bank activity, of creating the tariffs and commission fees and making possible the fixation. According to the legislation the antimonopoly policy in the sphere of bank activity is pursued by the National Bank of Georgia which determines admissible parameters of bank activity in this sphere, criteria of assessment and measures of influence. The Law of Georgia on Insurance stipulates a follows: 1. Insurance is carried out in voluntary and compulsory forms. 2. Voluntary insurance is carried out on the basis of agreement between insurer and insured. The agreement between insurer and insured sets up the forms, conditions and rules of implementation of insurance. 3. Voluntary insurance is carried out by any licensed insurance company of Georgia.
8 page 8 4. Compulsory insurance is a form of insurance when the objects, forms and rules of implementation are set up by the Law and must be taken into consideration while signing the agreement between insurer and insured. 5. The insurer of compulsory insurance is obliged to sign an agreement with the insured relative to the conditions stipulated by the Law. The insurer is entitled to propose to the insured more beneficial conditions than the conditions envisaged by the Law. 6. Compulsory insurance is carried out by any licensed insurance company of Georgia. Article 8/3 of this Law stipulates as follows: The insured is free to choose the insurer irrespective of the form of insurance - voluntary or compulsory. Article 30 of the Code of Georgia stipulates: 1. Labour is free. 2. The State is obliged to support the promotion of free entrepreneurship and competition. The monopoly activity is prohibited except in the cases envisaged by the Law. The rights of consumers are protected by the Law. 3. The State defends the labour rights of citizens abroad on the basis of international agreement on adjustment of relations. 4. Labour rights protection, just remuneration of labour and its security, wholesome conditions, conditions of labour for minors and women are determined by the Law. According to Article 11 of the Law of Georgia on Fossils: 1. The user of fossils may be only the entrepreneur irrespective of the form of property including other legal and physical bodies in accordance with the established order. 2. The users of fossils have all rights set up by the licence and are responsible for observing the conditions of the licence. According to Article 21 of the Law on Fossils: 1. In order to pursue a common State policy in the sphere of fossils there is in Georgia a single State system of fossils management. The objective of this system is: to provide a practical implementation of State policy for the rational use of fossils; to provide the legal and physical bodies with identical possibilities of fossils utilization; to promote free economic relations, to pursue an antimonopoly policy in the domain of fossils utilization; to provide the fossils users including the foreign ones with the necessary guarantees and to protect their rights to use fossils. 2. In Georgia the State management of fossils utilization is carried out by the Ministry but within their competence by the Departments and Supervision Body.
9 page 9 3. The management of use of fossils is carried out in correlation with the State Program on Utilization of Fossils through licensing control and supervision. Article 11 of the Law of Georgia on Communications and Post stipulates: 1. Construction, reconstruction, promotion and appropriate financing of the State communication means are carried out in compliance with the State Program on the Development of Economy of Georgia. 2. Communication enterprises are empowered to build communication lines on any lot, bridges, tunnels, streets, buildings, collector, in the prohibited zones, forests and arable land irrespective of their belonging by coordinating the conditions of communication lines building with the owners of land and objects as well as with the beneficiaries. 3. Communication enterprises are obliged to identify the damage caused by the communications construction to the land owners and objects and put in order the territory after building work. 4. While planning and building the populated area, dwelling districts and massifs, public buildings, constructions and dwelling houses, the executive authorities and project organizations are obliged to envisage separate buildings or separate premises for the location of communication enterprises according to the norms in force. 5. While building new objects the customer is obliged to make a project and build up the district and inner communication network according to the available norms. 6. In the case of constructing and reconstructing the buildings, roads, bridges or other objects the compulsory transfer of communication network and means is carried out by the customer at the expense and in accordance with technical conditions. Article 21 Quality of service in the sphere of communications and consumer protection stipulates: 1. The economic subjects are obliged to offer services to the consumers in accordance with the requirements envisaged by the agreements and other documents relative to quality, standards and technical norms. 2. It is prohibited to render such services by communication means the conformity of which with the established requirements is not justified by the certificate. 3. The consumer rights protection relative to the required quality of the services of electric and postal communications, the receipt of information on the services offered by the Communications and their operators as well as other rights and mechanisms of these rights implementation are regulated by the Law of Georgia on Consumer Protection. A very specific example of regulation of limited business practice is the activity of subjects of natural monopolies, which shall diminish according to the Presidential Decree of 20 February 1997 N 95 concerning the issues of adopted regulations.
10 page 10 F. Short bibliography Constitution of Georgia; Civil Code of Georgia; Law of Georgia on Consumer Protection; Law of Georgia on Advertising; Law of Georgia on Insurance; Law of Georgia on Commercial Banks Activity; Criminal Procedure Code of Georgia; Code of Georgia of Administrative Infringement of the Law;
11 page 11 II. COMMENTARY BY THE GOVERNMENT OF MOROCCO ON "LOI SUR LA LIBERTÉ DES PRIX ET LA CONCURRENCE" A. Exposé des motifs de l adoption de la loi 1) La concurrence est le meilleur processus de régulation de l'économie de marché. Depuis 1982, le Royaume du Maroc a entamé une politique de libéralisation de son économie : - Libéralisation du commerce extérieur; - Libéralisation des prix; - Vaste programme de privatisation; - Démonopolisation de grands secteurs publics et stratégiques (énergie, transports, télécommunications, export/import de denrées de base...); - Redistribution des rôles: le privé est le principal promoteur économique. L'État passe de l'état gérant (de l'économie) à l'état garant (du bon fonctionnement des mécanismes du marché et de l'ordre public économique). La loi sur la concurrence est perçue comme l'instrument de régulation le plus approprié. 2) La loi sur la concurrence incite à l'optimisation des ressources aussi bien au niveau de la production (meilleure allocation) qu'à celui de la distribution (meilleur rapport qualité/prix). 3) La concurrence constitue un élément de mise à niveau de l'économie marocaine (face à la mondialisation et au libre échange) incitant à la performance et à la compétitivité. 4) La loi sur la concurrence est protectrice des PME/PMI face aux grands groupes, aux monopoles et aux pratiques anticoncurrentielles (ententes, abus de domination et mergers). B. Objectifs de la loi - Garantir la liberté des prix et leur formation par le libre jeu de la concurrence; - Garantir la liberté d'accès de tous les opérateurs à toute activité; - Protéger les intérêts économiques des consommateurs; - Généraliser la transparence, la loyauté et le fair-play dans les relations économiques et les échanges; - Répandre et enraciner la culture concurrence; - Se conformer aux engagements auxquels le Maroc a librement souscrit (Traité d'association à l'union européenne, CNUCED, OMC, UMA...). C. Pratiques soumises au suivi La loi ne parle pas de contrôle qui est un concept dépassé puisque lié à la réglementation et comporte une connotation répressive. La loi sur la concurrence n'interdit rien a priori. Elle suit et lutte contre les pratiques abusives sur la base de "la règle de raison" ou "règle de bilan" au cas par cas. Deux types de pratiques sont spécifiés :
12 page 12 1) Les PAC : pratiques anticoncurrentielles qui sont : - Les ententes (art. 6); - L'abus de position dominante (art. 7); - La dépendance économique. 2) La PRC : pratiques restrictives de la concurrence qui imposent la transparence (affichage des prix, de la qualité facturation généralisée...) et la loyauté (non-discrimination, refus de vente, vente liée, imposition de conditions injustes, prix prédateurs, publicité mensongère, rupture injustifiée de relations commerciales...). B. Suivi des concentrations à partir d'un seuil de vigilance (de 40 %). Tout projet de concentration au-delà de ce seuil doit être notifié aux autorités en charge de la concurrence. D. Champ d'application Le champ d'application (Art. 2) est universel : la loi s'applique à tous les secteurs, toutes les personnes physiques ou morales, privées ou publiques et sur tout le territoire national et même aux opérations d'exportation de nature à nuire à la concurrence sur le marché domestique ou à l'activité d'un exportateur (entente dirigée contre lui par exemple). Toutefois cette universalité du champ d'application est limitée par des exceptions pour des raisons : 1) Structurelles : - Situation de monopole de droit ou de fait; - Disposition réglementaire (subvention et fixation de prix de denrées de base par exemple). 2) Conjoncturelles : - Difficultés d'approvisionnement, flambée anormale de prix, crise aiguë locale ou internationale. Toutefois, et en vue de garantir la sécurité juridique des opérateurs, le retour à la réglementation limitée (6 mois) doit être justifié et requérir l'avis du Conseil de la concurrence, "gardien du temple". E. Mécanisme d'application 1) Organe gouvernemental : le suivi de la concurrence est une des prérogatives du Premier Ministre qui aura à son service une Direction des prix et de la concurrence ayant pour mission de suivre le fonctionnement des marchés et des secteurs et l'évolution des prix (enquêteurs). Les projets de concentration sont également notifiés au Premier Ministre et instruits par la Direction des prix et de la concurrence (études et évaluation des impacts). 2) Organe spécial : le Conseil de la concurrence qui aura à connaître des PAC (ententes, domination, dépendance), du retour à la réglementation et des concentrations. Son avis doit être requis par le Premier Ministre.
13 page 13 Comme il aura un pouvoir consultatif très large auprès du Parlement du gouvernement des opérateurs, des chambres professionnelles, des syndicats, des conseils régionaux, des associations de consommateurs et des tribunaux compétents. 3) Les tribunaux : pour la célérité et la bonne application de la loi, le Ministère de la justice est favorable à la création de chambres spécialisées en concurrence pour juger les cas litigieux. F. Lois parallèles - Loi sur les marchés publics (obligation d'appel à la concurrence, ouverture des marchés à tous, transparence dans la passation des marchés publics); - Loi de régulation des télécommunications avec la création d'un organe spécialisé, l'anrt : Agence nationale de régulation des télécoms; - Article 36 de l'accord d'association avec l'union européenne qui incite à la convergence et l'harmonisation des dispositions réciproques en matière de concurrence; - Souscription aux accords de l'omc dont les dispositions en matière de concurrence; - Accord de libre-échange avec la Tunisie, l'égypte, la Libye..., et en général dans le cadre de l'uma (Union du Maghreb). G. Principales décisions La loi adoptée par le Parlement sera appliquée dans une année. La première année sera consacrée à la pédagogie, à la communication pour la diffusion des nouvelles règles et à la formation des structures devant être en charge de cette nouvelle et ambitieuse mission. Jusqu'à présent, il n'y a pas de décision d'application majeure en la matière. H. Bibliographie Les principales références sur lesquelles s'est basée l'élaboration du texte sur la concurrence sont : 1) La tradition musulmane : - Le Coran interdit textuellement le monopole, la fraude, les abus de toute sorte, l'entente nuisible à la communauté ainsi que l'usure; - La tradition du prophète insiste sur la transparence (l'affichage de la qualité et des prix "montrez-les") ainsi que sur la loyauté dans les relations; - Le deuxième khalife Omar a institué la "HISBA" ou le "suivi" des marchés en vue de la moralisation de relations économiques et commerciales et a mis à la tête de cette institution, il y a 14 siècles, une femme (Achifa Bent Abdou Allah). 2) Les législations modernes : - La loi antitrust américaine; - L'ordonnance française de 1986;
14 page 14 - La loi tunisienne sur la concurrence; - Le SET de la CNUCED ou loi modèle. 3) L'École européenne : Pour le Maroc, la concurrence est un outil de régulation et non pas une fin en soi. La concurrence, en incitant à l'optimisation et à la performance, constitue un facteurde développement, par l'instauration d'un climat propice à l'investissement et l'encouragementd'une dynamique d'émulation incitative au progrès et à la répartition.
15 page 15 III. COMMENTARY BY THE GOVERNMENT OF UKRAINE ON THE ANTIMONOPOLY LEGISLATION OF UKRAINE A. Description of the reasons of adopting the legislation Transition of Ukraine from state planned economy to market economy created a need for adopting a number of legislative and other normative acts that are directed towards ensuring conditions for development and functioning of the mechanism of market economy, support to and protection of free fair competition with a view to ensuring efficient economy and social progress, protection of the interests of economic entities and consumers. B. Description of the purposes of the legislation and changes in it from the moment of its adoption The Law of Ukraine On Limitation of Monopolism and Prevention of Unfair Competition in Entrepreneurial Activities No XII (hereinafter referred to as Law No ) was adopted on 18 February 1992 to protect and stimulate competition. The preamble to the Law No reads: The present Law shall define the legal grounds for limitation and forestalling of monopolism, for prevention of unfair competition in entrepreneurial activities and for exercising state control over the observance of the antimonopoly legislation norms. The Law No provided for the establishment of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine - the state body called to ensure, according to its competence, state control over the observance of the antimonopoly legislation, protection of the interests of entrepreneurs and consumers against violations of the antimonopoly legislation, defined its structure, competence and powers. Later on, the status of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (hereinafter referred to as the Committee ), - its tasks, functions, powers, structure, principles of activities were defined by the Law of Ukraine On the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine of 26 November 1993 No XII. Concerning mechanisms, methods of and instruments for implementing the tasks provided for by Law No. 2132, those matters in the bulk of cases are regulated by other normative acts that have been adopted and are effective to develop provisions of this law. On 7 June 1996, the Law of Ukraine On Protection Against Unfair Competition No. 236/96-BP (hereinafter referred to as Law No. 236 ) that defines the legal grounds for protecting economic entities and consumers against unfair competition was adopted. The law came into force on 1 January 1997 and replaced such norms of Law No that concerned unfair competition. Thus there are three legislative acts for the time being in Ukraine that constitute the basis for the antimonopoly legislation of Ukraine.
16 page 16 C. Description of practices, actions or behaviour that are objects of control Law No defines as violations of the antimonopoly legislation the following actions: abuses of monopoly position; anticompetitive concerted actions; discrimination against economic entities that is practised by central and local bodies of executive power, by state bodies that regulate activities of natural monopolies and securities markets, by state bodies of privatization, by bodies of local self-government as well as by bodies of administrative and economic management and control being economic entities when they fulfil functions of management and control within such powers of the mentioned bodies that were delegated to them. The definition of unfair competition and the responsibility for it are provided for by Law No Abuse of monopoly position Article 4 of Law No defines as abuse of monopoly position the following: 1. imposition of such contract terms that create a disadvantage for contractors or imposition of such additional terms that have nothing in common with the subject of a contract, including imposition of a needless product on a contractor; 2. limitation or stoppage of production of products and their removal from circulation, which resulted or can result in creation or maintenance of deficit on the market or in setting monopoly prices; 3. partial or complete refusal to sell or purchase a product in the absence of alternative purchase or sales sources, which resulted or can result in creation of maintenance of deficits on the market or in setting monopoly prices; 4. other actions that resulted or can result in creation of barriers to entry into (withdrawal from) the market with respect to other economic entities; 5. setting of such discriminatory prices (tariffs, rates) for one s own products that restrict rights of particular consumers; 6. setting of monopoly high prices (tariffs, rates) for one s own products, which resulted or can result in violation of the rights of consumers; 7. setting of monopoly low prices (tariffs, rates) for one s own products, which resulted or can result in restriction of competition. The actions mentioned in Points 1 and 5 are qualified as abuse of monopoly position irrespective of the consequences of performed actions. The actions mentioned in Points 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 are qualified as abuse of monopoly position if there are the consequences provided for by the points. The list of actions to be considered as abuses of monopoly position is made wider due to the provisions of Point 4. For qualifying them, it is necessary, however, to have the consequences provided for by the same provision.
17 page 17 Only such economic entities that occupy monopoly position on the market of a particular product are subjects of a violation in the form of abuse of monopoly position. Law No defines that position of an economic entity whose share in the market of a particular product exceeds 35 per cent is considered to be a monopoly market position. Position of an economic entity whose share in the market of a particular product is less than 35 per cent may be defined as a monopoly one by a decision taken by the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine if that sort of position makes it possible for the economic entity to restrict competition on the market independently or jointly with other economic entities. The procedure of defining a monopoly position of an economic entity on the market is established by the relevant normative acts of the Committee and provides for the following sequence in defining market position: definition of the list of products with respect to which the market position is being defined; definition of consumers of those products; definition of the period within which the market position is being defined (as a rule, one year); definition of the product limits of the market (groups of interchangeable products); definition of the geographical limits of the market; definition of the list of economic entities (competitors) that supply the mentioned products to the relevant markets; definition of the list of economic entities whose share in the market of the mentioned products exceeds 35 per cent; definition of the fact that economic entities whose share in the market is less than 35 per cent have market power. Monopoly position itself of an economic entity is not prohibited. Fair competition (Points 2, 3, 4, 7) and the rights of participants of economic circulation including those of consumers (Points 1, 5, 6) are direct objects of a violation in the form of abuse of monopoly position. Depending upon the circumstances, violations can infringe on both objects at once. The complete prohibition affects actions that are abuses of monopoly position and legal responsibility for committing them is provided for. In addition, if an economic entity abuses its monopoly position, the Committee may adopt a decision about compulsory split-up of the economic entity being a monopolist if that sort of split-up is possible. Anticompetitive concerted actions Article 5 of Law No does not contain the list of actions to be anticompetitive concerted actions, at the same time it only provides for the consequences whose coming into existence makes it possible to consider any concerted actions (agreements) to be anticompetitive. As the article provides for, anticompetitive concerted actions are considered to constitute such concerted actions (agreements) that resulted or can result in:
18 page setting (maintenance) of monopoly prices (tariffs), rebates, extra charges (additional payments), increases in prices; 2. distribution of markets on the principle of territory, assortment of products, volume of product sale or product purchase, or according to the circle of consumers, or according to other indications, which resulted or can result in their monopolization; 3. removal of sellers, buyers, and other economic entities from the market or restriction of their access into it. Coordination of actions, i.e. the existence of an agreement in any form between participants of that sort of actions, is a necessary sign of anticompetitive concerted actions. The actions can be committed in any form, namely in writing, orally, by silent consent, etc. Monopolization or the possibility of monopolization of markets are additional necessary consequences to qualify such concerted actions that resulted or can result in distribution of markets on the principle of territory, assortment of products, volume of product sale or product purchase, or according to the circle of consumers. Fair competition is a direct object of a violation in the form of abuse of monopoly position. The consumer rights (Point 1) may be an additional object of the violation. Subjects of that sort of a violation can be the following: 1. economic entities; 2. central and local bodies of executive power, state bodies that regulate activities of natural monopolies and securities markets, state bodies of privatization, bodies of local self-government as well as bodies of administrative and economic management and control. Actions that have the signs of anticompetitive concerted actions and are committed by the subjects in the meaning of Point 2 are considered not to be the violations provided for by Article 5 of Law No. 2132, but to be such discrimination against economic entities that is provided for by Article 6 of the same law. The norm of Article 5 is a prohibitive one. The legislation provides for no exemptions from the article. Thus the complete prohibition affects anticompetitive concerted actions. Discrimination against economic entities Article 6 of Law No defines the following actions to be discrimination against economic entities that are practised by bodies of state power, bodies of local self-government and bodies of administrative and economic management and control: 1. prohibition against the establishment of new enterprises or other organization forms of entrepreneurship in any sphere of activities; 2. putting restrictions on being engaged in some activities, which resulted or can result in restriction of competition;
19 page putting restrictions on production of particular kinds of a product, which resulted or can result in restriction of competition; 4. compulsion of economic entities to join associations, concerns, interbranch, regional and other amalgamations of enterprises; 5. compulsion of economic entities to practice a priority conclusion of contracts; 6. compulsion of economic entities to provide a primary supply to a particular circle of consumers; 7. making decisions about centralized distribution of products, which resulted or can result in monopoly position on the market; 8. establishment of prohibition against sale of products from one region of the republic into another one; 9. giving particular economic entities such tax and other privileges that place them in a privileged position with respect to other economic entities, which resulted or can result in monopolization of the market of a particular product; 10. restriction of the rights of economic entities to purchase and sell products; 11. establishment of prohibitions or limitations with respect to particular economic entities or groups of economic entities. The notion of violations in the form of discrimination of economic entities provides for, at once, two objects, namely fair competition to be based on equal rights of and opportunities for economic entities and the rights of participants of economic circulation, i.e. economic entities. Limitation of the right or opportunity to be engaged in free, left to one s discretion, economic activities, violation of the principle of independence and equality of participants of economic circulation, artificial creation of advantages for certain economic entities, which in the end results in restriction or distortion of competition and restraint of competition, constitute the essence of the violations. The actions mentioned in Points 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11 are defined a priori as such actions that have negative impact on competition. Perpetration of the actions mentioned in Points 2, 3, 7, 9 does not result obligatory in negative consequences for competition. That is why the actions mentioned in those points are defined to be discrimination of economic entities only if those actions result in the relevant consequences, namely restriction of competition or monopolization of the market. Central and local bodies of executive power, state bodies that regulate activities of natural monopolies and securities markets, state bodies of privatization, bodies of local self-government as well as bodies of administrative and economic management and control being economic entities, when they fulfil functions of management and control within such powers of the mentioned bodies that were delegated to them, are subjects of the provided violations. Conclusion of agreements between bodies of state power, bodies of local self-government, bodies of administrative and economic management and control, conclusion of agreements between those bodies and economic entities as well as their giving natural or legal persons powers to perform the actions provided for by Points 1-7 are also considered to be discrimination against economic entities.
20 page 20 Exemptions from the provisions of the article may be established by legislative acts of Ukraine for the purpose of ensuring national security, defence and public interests. Responsibility for violations of the antimonopoly legislation in the form of discrimination is provided for with respect to legal persons being economic entities. The state bodies mentioned in article 6 and bodies of local self-government as legal persons do not bear the responsibility. In cases of that sort, the Committee or its bodies draw up statements of violations of the antimonopoly legislation and send them to the court of justice for its instituting administrative proceedings against guilty officials of the mentioned bodies. Unfair competition Legal grounds for protecting economic entities and consumers against unfair competition are defined by the Law of Ukraine On Protection Against Unfair Competition of 7 June 1996 No. 236/96-BP (hereinafter referred to as Law No. 236). Law No. 236 defines unfair competition as any actions performed in the course of competition that contradict rules, trade and other fair customs in entrepreneurial activities. The law qualifies as unfair competition, in particular, the following: 1. Unlawful use of an economic entity s business reputation: (a) unlawful use of others trademarks, advertising material and packing; The unauthorized use of others Christian and company names, trademarks, logos, advertising material, packing, titles of books, works of art, periodicals, place-names of commodities origin because of which there can be confusion with respect to activities of other economic entities having the priority right to use them is qualified as unlawful. The use of a natural person s name in a company name is not qualified as unlawful if the person s name is somehow made distinct so as to rule out its confusion with activities of other economic entity. (b) unlawful use of products made by other manufacturers; Launching into circulation under one s name products belonging to a different manufacturer by changing or lifting that manufacturer s name without permission from an authorized person is the unlawful use of products made by other manufacturers. (c) copying outward appearance of products; Copying outward appearance of products or their parts is not qualified as unlawful if that sort of copying is caused exclusively by their functional use. That norm does not affect products being protected as objects of intellectual property. (d) comparative advertising; Comparative advertising is not considered unlawful if information contained therein concerning products, work or services is corroborated by such factual data that are authentic, unbiased and useful for informing consumers. 2. Obstructing other economic entities business in the course of competition and gaining unlawful advantage in competition: (a) discrediting an economic entity;