The Egyptian Competition Law (the ECL) is playing a prominent role in ensuring that the market stability is safeguarded. This is in lines with the factor o achieving the new economic strategy. Egypt's newly launched economic policy confirms the main aim of ECL for focusing on the behaviour of the ones doing business in the sector and avoidance of any restrictions on the growth and the development.
Several years showcase an effective and determined policy of enforcement from the Egypt Competition Authority (the ECA). The ECA is always pursuing its strategized mission for being instrumental for ensuring free and open competition together with prohibiting any kind of anti-competitive practices. This is intended to serve a healthy business environment for enhancing the growth of the national economy.
Article 6 of the ECL makes provisions for an exhaustive list of agreements that are strictly prohibited amongst the competitors: -
Market allocation
Fixation of price
Bid-rigging and collusive tendering
Limit on producing and distributing the products
ECL has adopted an approach where the agreement or the contract will be considered in breach even though it has come into effect. It was only in 2014 that the ECL underwent amendments for the introduction of a pre-exemption mechanism for the cartel agreements in the event an agreement or a contract leads towards achieving economic efficiency. It is highly pertinent to mention that these anti-competitive practices are subject to severe criminal implications which are subject to fines which are decided by the criminal courts.
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