Saturday 08 / February / 2025
Muscat: The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion (MoCIIP) , has issued a Ministerial decision promulgating the executive regulations of the Competition Protection and Monopoly Prevention Law.
The Article (1) of the ministerial decision stipulated that the provisions shall have effect in relation to the executive regulation of the Competition Protection and Monopoly Prevention Law , while the article (2) stipulated that any provision contradicting or conflicting with the provisions of the attached regulation is hereby repealed. The article (3) stipulated that this decision shall be published in the Gazette and shall come into force from the date following its publication.
The Competition Protection and Monopoly Prevention Law aims at regulating the freedom of practicing any economic activity, stabilizing the principles of the market rules and freedom of pricing in such manner that the same shall not restrict the integral competition, prevent the same or be negatively affected thereby.
MoCIIP clarified that the executive regulations of the Competition Protection and Monopoly Prevention Law indicates that when determining the relevant market that is mentioned in the law, it shall determine two elements, namely the concerned products and the geographical scope of the studied case.
Concerned persons will have the right to appeal to the minister against a decision issued by the ministry to reject or cancel the application within 60 days from the date of his notification of the rejection decision, and after paying the prescribed fees. Employees who have been granted the status of a judicial seizure official have the right to enter the places of work of persons subject to inspection, investigate any person suspected of committing any violation of the provisions of the Competition Protection and Monopoly Prevention Law and its executive regulation.
The executive regulations of the Competition Protection and Monopoly Prevention Law also stipulated that without prejudice to the penalties prescribed in the law, an administrative fine of OMR 5,000 shall be imposed on anyone who violates the provisions and the fine will be doubled in the event of repetition of the violation.
