Priorities of the Competition Regulatory Authority for 2023

In a seminar held last week in Lisbon the President of the Mozambique Competition Regulatory Authority (CRA) presented a summary of the CFA's main activities since it became operational in 2021, as well as the CRA's priorities for 2023.

The president pointed out that between August 2021 and September 2022 the CRA received 30 merger filings, concerning transactions in a wide range of industries, most of which have already been cleared by the CRA.

The CRA this year also imposed its first fines in two cases (one for gun-jumping) and issued a warning to a business association for infringing the Competition Law. The CRA is currently investigating five cases for suspected anticompetitive practices.

Two sectoral studies are also underway, one on the cement and clinker industry, covering the entire production and distribution chain, and the other analysing the current production and distribution model for sugar in Mozambique.

As the main priorities for the year 2023, the President of the CRA pointed out the following:

• Preparation of studies on the flour and food oil production industries;
• Presentation of the conclusions of the market study on cement;
• Conclusion of the analysis on the sugar industry;
• Investigating possible restrictive practices in the industries of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, aviation, mobile telephony, maritime and financial logistics.

The President also identified as priorities for the near future moving to a new headquarters, recruitment and training of staff, and the operationalization of a new "e-concorrência" web platform, which will allow the electronic submission of merger filings, reporting anti-competitive practices and submitting documents requested by CRA.

Finally, last week the CRA also signed an institutional cooperation agreement with the Competition Authority of Portugal with a view to exchanging experience and support between the two entities. Despite its recent operationalization, the ambitious initiatives envisaged by the CRA for next year reveal a willingness to vigorously implement the competition law rules in Mozambique.

Companies operating in Mozambique, and in particular those present in the sectors highlighted above, are well advised to monitor internally compliance with competition law rules, not only in the corporate transactions, but also in their day-to-day business activities, engaging specialist legal advice when appropriate.

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Read the original publication at MDR Advogados.