Hespress obtained a draft bill regulating price freedom and competition in Morocco, which was approved by the Government Council back in March and is awaiting the discussions phase in the House of Representatives.
The legislation, elaborated against the backdrop of a general domestic spike in prices and growing international inflation, is the implementation of Royal instructions aiming to reframe the procedures of the National Competition Council.
According to an introductory note of the draft bill, the rules for determining financial penalties for firms involved in anti-competitive practices will be amended and reviewed,
Under the new draft, the Competition Council can issue a financial penalty to be enforced either immediately, or that will result in the concerned establishment to immediately halt all activity until their full compliance with Moroccan fair-competition laws.
The penalties will be issued depending on multiple factors, namely the location of the entity’s market, the time, period and duration of the violations, calculated in financial years, the illegal profits obtained from the violations, as well as the entity’s degree of involvement in committing the violations.
The amount is also determined individually, and justified in relation to the penalty issued against each establishment or organization, taking into account the existence of mitigating or aggravating circumstances.
The drat additionally provides for “aggravating circumstances,” namely the violator’s continuation or repetition of the same violation or a similar violation that the Council has previously examined against him, whether that led to a penalty or not, as well as the violator’s claim or incitement to commit a violation in which several establishments participated or had a role, and in case the violator refused to cooperate, or obstructed the completion of the investigation.
As for mitigating circumstances, they take into account the limited participation of the body or establishment in group violation, stopping the violation prior to the issuing a complaint, and cooperating in a significant way in the investigation, and reparation of the damages resulting from the violation in whole or in part.
