On April 10 2013 the Competition Authority held a conference on the current state of competition in Serbia. It announced the changes planned to be implemented in the field of competition law.
The draft Competition Amendment Act was made available to the public following the conference. The public debate was opened on April 18 2013 and closed on May 18 2013.
The main changes due to be implemented in the Competition Act are as follows:
- a new method for determining an undertaking's dominant position on the relevant market;
- a new method for issuing decisions establishing competition infringements and measures aimed at eliminating them - the Competition Authority may now issue a decision suspending a competition infringement procedure if the relevant party undertakes to remedy the infringement and proposes the method and time limit to that end; and
-
regarding the statute of limitations, the introduction of separate statutes of limitations for:
- establishing an infringement and imposing a penalty; and
- collecting the competition infringement fine.
A new concept has been introduced – the suspension of the statute of limitations period by a procedure conducted by an authority (ie, the Competition Authority).
There are no changes planned regarding thresholds or merger clearance proceedings before the Competition Commission.
On closing the public debate, the Ministry of Foreign and Internal Trade and Telecommunications will analyse all suggestions, proposals and comments from the debate's participants and draft a public debate report. The Competition Law amendments are planned to come into force by the end of 2013.
For further information on this topic please contact Srdjana Petronijevic at Moravcevic Vojnovic i Partneri in cooperation with Schoenherr by telephone (+381 11 320 26 00), fax (+381 11 320 26 10) or email ([email protected]).
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