On October 5, 2022, the National Competition Commission (“CONACOM”) approved by Resolution D/AD No. 92/2022 the “Guide for the development of competition compliance programs” (the “Guide”), for guidance (not binding). Thus, CONACOM publishes its sixth (6th) guide, instructions, guidelines. The complete Guide is available at this LINK.
The Guide has a twofold objective: (1) to inform companies and the general public about the most relevant aspects of competition law; and (2) provide guidelines and recommendations for the development of compliance programs in competition matters. It is based on a set of good practices that CONACOM considers relevant and seeks to strengthen the role of companies as promoters and main actors in the defense of competition, to result in a mature economic growth of the economy.
It begins with a “General Context” section where the importance of competition, its defense and constitutional rank are summarized in a didactic way. It goes on to indicate the two different areas under which the Law for the Defense of Competition regulates competition in Paraguay: (a) with the Control of Concentrations; and (b) with the Prohibition of Prohibited Conduct, which can be subsumed as an Abuse of Dominant Position and/or a Restrictive Agreement of Competition. Finally, the role of CONACOM is mentioned, its organic structure and the duty of collaboration that governs every person towards CONACOM.
The second section of the Guide details the criteria to be taken into account for the elaboration of “Compliance and Competition Programs”. These programs are self-regulatory tools that seek to prevent, detect, and control the impact of infringements of antitrust regulations on an organization. They are also designed to encourage and strengthen collaboration with CONACOM in detecting situations in which CONACOM should intervene.
Our Competition department develops compliance manuals on this matter and advises clients on their implementation.
For more information, please contact:
Carla Sosa
Partner
Carla.Sosa@berke.com.py
Manuel Arias
Partner
Manuel. Arias@berke.com.py
Alvaro Rojas
Associated
Alvaro.Rojas@berke.com.py
