Competition Law at Tunisia
Here’s a detailed overview of Competition Law in Tunisia:
🇹🇳 Competition Law in Tunisia
1. Legal Framework:
The key legislation is Law No. 36 of 2015 on the Reorganization of Competition and Prices, which replaced the earlier Law No. 64 of 1991.
This law governs anti-competitive practices, merger control, and price regulation in Tunisia.
2. Objectives:
To promote economic efficiency and innovation through fair competition.
To prevent and penalize anti-competitive practices such as cartels and abuse of dominant position.
To regulate prices only when market failures occur.
To protect consumer welfare.
3. Regulatory Authority:
The Conseil de la Concurrence (Competition Council) is Tunisia’s main competition authority.
It operates under the supervision of the Ministry of Trade and Export Development.
It has powers to investigate, make rulings, and impose sanctions on companies violating competition laws.
4. Key Provisions of the Law:
A. Anti-competitive Agreements (Cartels):
Agreements between companies that restrict competition are prohibited, including:
Price-fixing
Market or customer allocation
Collusive tendering (bid-rigging)
Both horizontal (between competitors) and vertical (supplier-distributor) agreements are scrutinized.
B. Abuse of Dominant Position:
A firm is considered dominant if it can behave independently of competitors and consumers.
Prohibited conduct includes:
Excessive pricing
Predatory pricing
Refusing to deal
Tying and bundling
C. Merger Control:
Mergers and acquisitions must be notified to the Ministry of Trade if:
The combined turnover of parties exceeds a certain threshold in Tunisia, or
The merger may significantly impede effective competition.
The Competition Council reviews mergers for potential anti-competitive effects.
D. Price Regulation:
Generally, prices are liberalized, but the government may intervene in exceptional cases (e.g., essential goods).
5. Enforcement and Penalties:
The Competition Council may:
Impose fines (often a percentage of turnover).
Order companies to cease anti-competitive practices.
Authorize dawn raids and request information.
Its decisions can be appealed to administrative courts.
6. Recent Developments:
Increased focus on sectors like telecommunications, food distribution, pharmaceuticals, and banking.
Tunisia has been working to improve transparency and compliance with international competition standards (especially in the context of its EU trade relations).
Summary
Tunisia’s Law No. 36 of 2015 provides a solid competition law framework enforced by the Competition Council. It regulates cartels, abuse of dominance, and mergers to ensure market fairness and protect consumers, with a growing focus on aligning with international best practices.
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