Mexican Antitrust Authority (COFECE) Issues Statement Regarding COVID-19

In the context of the current emergency situation created by COVID-19, Mexican's antitrust authority — the Comisión Federal de Competencia Económica (COFECE) — issued a statement that outlines its position in terms of the application of the Ley Federal de Competencia Económica (Federal Law on Economic Competition) to help ensure that supply chains are not interrupted or that supply is not artificially restricted so that goods or services become more expensive.

According to COFECE's statement:

• Collaboration agreements between economic agents that, in the current context, are necessary to maintain or increase supply, satisfy demand, protect supply chains or avoid shortages or hoarding of goods, and which are not intended to displace competitors, would not be pursued.
• Price increases or fixing must be an individual and independent decision of each company; they cannot be induced, encouraged or recommended by associations, confederations or chambers to their participants.
• Markets where indiscriminate increases in price take place will be reviewed to evaluate and, where appropriate, rule out possible arrangements between competitors as their cause, in which case an investigation procedure would have to be initiated.
• COFECE will expedite analysis of consolidations that arise to make synergies and add production capacities to satisfy in a timely and sufficient manner the needs derived from this crisis.

Holland & Knight attorneys have extensive experience in antitrust matters in a variety of industries. For more information, contact the authors or Holland & Knight's Mexico City office.

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