The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) recently issued four supporting rules of the Anti-Monopoly Law, namely the Provisions on Stopping the Abuse of Administrative Power to Eliminate and Restrict Competition, the Provisions on Prohibiting Monopoly Agreements, the Provisions on Prohibiting Abuse of Dominant Market Position, and the Provisions on the Review of Concentration of Business Operators, which came into force on April 2023, 4.
In this revision, the State Administration for Market Regulation adheres to the problem-oriented, handles the relationship between regulation and development, and revises, improves and expands the following aspects in view of the prominent problems existing in regulatory law enforcement:
The first is to refine the relevant provisions of the Anti-Monopoly Law. According to the Anti-Monopoly Law amended in 2022, refine the content, procedures, methods, etc. of administrative interviews; Clarify the subject scope of "competing operators" in horizontal monopoly agreements; Clarify the specific manifestations of "organizing other operators to conclude monopoly agreements" and "providing substantial assistance to other operators in reaching monopoly agreements" in hub-and-spoke agreements; Refine the "stop bell" system for the review period of concentration of undertakings; Clarify the factors for determining "control" and "implementation of concentration" in the review of concentration of undertakings; Optimize the calculation of the turnover of business operators participating in the concentration, etc.
The second is to optimize regulatory and law enforcement procedures. It is clarified that in the process of investigating and handling acts of abusing administrative power to eliminate or restrict competition, the obligation of relevant units and individuals to cooperate with the investigation, and the obligation of the unit under investigation to report the situation of corrections in writing, and take the elimination of relevant competition restrictions as the basis for law enforcement agencies to conclude investigations or make administrative recommendations; Improve the review and investigation provisions on concentrations of undertakings that do not meet the reporting standards but have evidence to prove that they have or may have the effect of eliminating or restricting competition; Optimize the procedures for the review of simple cases for concentration of undertakings; Regulate procedures for suspending investigations, terminating investigations, and filing case reports in the investigation and handling of cases of monopoly agreements and abuse of dominant market position.
The third is to strengthen the legal responsibility of relevant entities. For the legal representative, main responsible person and directly responsible personnel of the business operator who bear personal liability in the monopoly agreement, the range of application for mitigation or exemption of punishment is stipulated; Consolidate the responsibilities and obligations of filers and their agents for a concentration of undertakings, and optimize the rules for selecting trustees.
(CCTV reporter Wang Jing)