The Competition Commission is inviting the public to comment on draft guidelines regarding the exchange of information between competing companies.
The guidelines are aimed at identifying what constitutes a permissible and impermissible exchange of information under the Competition Act, as well as what type of information exchange may be potentially harmful to competition versus what type of information exchange could enhance efficiencies.
These guidelines are intended to assist firms, trade and industry associations, regulators and other interested stakeholders to make informed decisions about the exchange of information between competitors.
The guidelines present the general approach that the commission will follow when determining whether information exchange between competing companies in a market amounts to a contravention of the Act, such as price fixing, market allocation and bid rigging.
From a competition law perspective, “information exchange” refers to the sharing of information that has an economic value to a company, such as information relating to prices, costs or business strategies.
Information sharing among competitors, in appropriate circumstances, could benefit competitors without harming competition.
However, information exchange could also be used to facilitate collusive behaviour among competitors, ultimately resulting in harm to consumer welfare.
The draft guidelines were published in the Government Gazette on July 14 and will also be available for download from www.compcom.co.za.
Written comments are invited from any interested person/s and can be submitted via email to MayaS@compcom.co.za or KorkoiA@compcom.co.za.