FEDERAL LAW OF ECONOMIC COMPETITION
Mexico
Official Gazette of the Federation
December 24, 1992
This is not an official translation.The only official text is in "Diario Oficial de la Federacion" (Federal Official Gazette).
Federal Law of Economic Competition
CHAPTER I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
ARTICLE 1.- This law rules Article 28 of the Constitution on economic competition, monopolies and free market access. It is binding to all sectors of the economic activity(1) in the Mexican Republic.
ARTICLE 2.- The purpose of this law is to protect the competition process, and the free market access, by preventing monopolies, monopolistic practices and other restrictions that deter the efficient operation of the goods and services market.
For the purposes of this law, the Ministry shall be understood to be the Ministry of Trade and Industrial Promotion and Commission shall be understood to be the Federal Competition Commission.
(1) This is not an official translation of the "Ley Federal de Competencia Economica" enacted on December 24, 1992. The only official text is in "Diario Oficial de la Federacion" (Federal Official Gazette of that date. Printed for the 1st time pursuant to the law in the "Diario Oficial" dated December 24, 1992..- (Remittance No. 1 dated 1993).
ARTICLE 3.- All economic agents are subject to the provisions of this law, whether individuals or corporations, agencies or entities of the federal, state of local administration, associations, professional groups, trusts or any other form of participation in economic activities.
ARTICLE 4.- For the purposes of this law, the powers exercised exclusively by the state in the strategic sectors describes in the fourth paragraph of Article 28 of the Political Constitution of the Mexican United States, do not constitute monopolies.
However, the agencies and entities that exercise the powers describes in the preceding paragraph shall be subject to the provisions of this law regarding acts not specifically considered as strategic areas.
ARTICLE 5.- Workers' associations created under the corresponding legislation to protect their interest, do not constitute monopolies.
Temporary privileges granted to authors and artists for the production of their work and those granted to inventors and individuals perfecting improvements for the exclusive use of their inventions, do not constitute monopolies either.
ARTICLE 6.- Associations or co-operatives that directly sell their products abroad, do not constitute monopolies, provided that:
ARTICLE 7. The following shall apply in order to set maximum prices for products and services that are essential for the Mexican economy or for mass consumption.
Without interpreting the following as a violation of this law, the Ministry may agree or co-ordinate with producers or distributors the necessary actions in this matter, to minimise the effects on competition and free market participation.
In co-ordination with the Ministry, the Federal Consumer Protection Agency shall be responsible for the inspection, surveillance and penalisation of maximum prices determined pursuant to this article, in accordance with the Federal Consumer Protection Law.
CHAPTER II
MONOPOLIES AND MONOPOLISTIC
PRACTICES
ARTICLE 8.- Monopolies and state monopolies are prohibited, and also those practices which, pursuant to this law, diminish, impair or prevent competition and free participation in the production, processing, distribution and marketing of goods and services.
ARTICLE 9.- Absolute monopolistic practices are contracts, agreements, arrangements, or combinations among competitive economic agents, whose aim or effect are any of the following:
The acts mentioned in this article will not have any legal effects and the economic agents engaged in such acts will be subject to the penalties established under this law, notwithstanding any criminal liability that may ensue.
ARTICLE 10.- Subject to verification of articles 11, 12 and 13 of this Law, relative monopolistic practices are deemed to be those acts, contracts, agreements or combinations, which aim or effect is to improperly displace other agents from the market, substantially hinder their access thereto, or to establish exclusive advantages in favour of one or several entities or individuals, in the following cases:
ARTICLE 1l.- The following conditions have to be proven for the practices in the preceding paragraph to be deemed violating the Law:
ARTICLE 12.- The following criteria must be evaluated in order to determine which are the relevant markets:
ARTICLE 13.- The following should be evaluated in order to determine if an economic agent has substantial power in the relevant market:
ARTICLE 14.- Pursuant to Section V, Article 117 of the Political Constitution of the Mexican United States, the acts of the state authorities which direct or indirect objective is to ban the entrance of exit into or from their territory of Mexican or foreign goods or services shall not have legal effects.
ARTICLE 15.- The Commission may investigate ex-officio or at the request of a party if it witnesses the acts referred to in the previous Article, and as the case may be, to declares their existence. The declaration shall be published in the Federal
Official Gazette and may be challenged by the State authorities before the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation.
CHAPTER III
CONCENTRATIONS
ARTICLE 16.- For the purposes of this Law, concentration is understood to be the merger, acquiring the control or any other action through which corporations, associations, stocks, equity interest, trusts and assets in general are carried out amongst competitors, suppliers, customers or any other economic agents.
The Commission shall challenge and sanction those concentrations which objective or effect is to diminish, damage or deter competition and free access to equal, similar or substantially related goods and services.
ARTICLE 17.- Upon investigating concentrations. The Commission shall consider as signs of the assumptions mentioned in the article here in above, that the act or attempt:
ARTICLE 18.- The Commission shall take into consideration the following elements, in order to determine if the concentration has to be challenged or sanctioned pursuant to this Law:
ARTICLE 19.- If from the investigation and processing established herein, the result is that the concentration constitutes an act foreseen in this Chapter, besides applying the corresponding legal measures or penalties, the Commission may:
ARTICLE 20.- The Commission should be notified of the following concentrations, before they are made:
In order to register those acts which by their nature should be registered in the Public Trade Registry, the economic agents under items I and III should credit that they have obtained favourable resolutions from the Commission or that they have given the notification mentioned in this Article without the Commission issuing a resolution in the term established in the following article.
ARTICLE 21.- For the purposes of the article above, the following shall apply:
ARTICLE 22.- The following may not be challenged pursuant to this law:
CHAPTER IV
FEDERAL COMPETITION COMMISSION
ARTICLE 23.- The Federal Competition Commission is a deconcentrated administrative entity of the Ministry of Trade and Industrial Development. It shall be technically and operatively autonomous and shall be responsible for preventing, investigating and combating monopolies, monopolic practices and concentrations, in accordance with this law and shall be autonomous in issuing its resolutions.
ARTICLE 24.- The Commission shall have the following abilities:
ARTICLE 25.- The Commission shall be integrated by five commissioners including the corresponding President. It shall confer as an entity and decisions shall be reached by majority of votes, and the President shall have the casting vote.
The Commission shall have the necessary personnel to efficiently take care of business pursuant to the authorised budget.
ARTICLE 26. - The commissioners shall be appointed by the Federal Executive and shall meet the following requirements:
The commissioners must abstain from performing other jobs, work or public or private activities, with the exception of teaching positions. Also, in accordance with the regulations, they may not participate in matters where they have a direct or indirect interest.
ARTICLE 27.- The commissioners shall be appointed to be in office for ten year periods, renewable, and may only be removed from office due to duly justified serious reasons.
ARTICLE 28.- The President of the Commission shall be appointed by the Federal Executive and shall have the following abilities:
ARTICLE 29.- The Commission shall have an Executive Secretary appointed by the Commission's President, and he shall be in charge of the operating and administrative co-ordination.
The Executive Secretary shall attest the acts in which he participates.
CHAPTER V
PROCEDURES
ARTICLE 30.- Proceedings before the Commission begin ex-officio or at the request of a party.
ARTICLE 31.- When exercising its powers, the Commission may request the necessary information or documents in order to carry out investigations, as well as to summon those involved in the corresponding cases.
The information and documents obtained directly by the Commission when carrying out its investigations, and also those filed before it shall be strictly confidential. Public servants shall be held responsible in case of disclosure of that information, except when discussed by order of a competent authority.
ARTICLE 32.- All persons, in the event of absolute monopoly practices, or the party affected by the other practices or concentrations forbidden hereunder, may file a written complaint before the Commission against the alleged responsible, describing the nature of that practice or concentration.
In the case of corresponding monopoly practices or concentrations, the complainant shall include the elements that constitute those practices or concentrations, or as the case may be, the concepts that prove that the complainant has suffered or may suffer a substantial damage.
The Commission may reject the claims that are notoriously unfounded.
ARTICLE 33.- Proceedings before the Commission shall abide y the following basis:
Any matter not covered herein shall be governed by the regulations of this law.
ARTICLE 34.- In order to efficiently execute its powers, the Commission may use the following legal pressure:
CHAPTER VI
SANCTIONS
ARTICLE 35.- The Commission may assess the following sanctions:
In the event of repeated offence, an additional fine may be assessed up to twice the initial amount.
ARTICLE 36.- When assessing fines, the Commission shall consider the seriousness of the violation, the damage caused, the degree of premeditation, the participation in the markets of the infringed; the size of the market affected; the length of the practice or concentration and the recurrence or background of the infringed, and also his financial status.
ARTICLE 37.- In the event of the violations under Sections IV to VII of Article 35 that, in the opinion of the Commission, are specially serious, it may levy instead of the fines contemplated in them, a fine up to ten per cent of the annual sales of the infringed during the previous fiscal year or up to ten per cent of the value of the assets of the infringed, whichever is higher.
ARTICLE 38.- The economic agents that have proven to have suffered damages during the proceeding resulting from the monopoly practice or illicit concentration, may file a legal claim to obtain compensation for the damages. In that event, the court may take into consideration the damages estimated by the Commission.
Only the legal or administrative actions based on this law shall proceed.
CHAPTER VII
APPEAL FOR REVIEW
ARTICLE 39.- Pursuant to this Law and contrary to the resolutions issued by the Commission, an appeal for reversal may be filed before the Commission within the 30 working days following the date in which those resolutions are notified.
The objective of the appeal is to revoke, amend, modify or confirm the resolution appealed and the judgements issued shall contain the assessment of the act challenged, the legal basis that support them and the resolution items. The regulations of this law shall establish the terms and other requirements for the filing and substantiation of the appeal.
The appeal shall be filed through a document addressed to the Commission's President, and it shall state the name and domicile of the appellant and the offences. It shall include the evidence deemed necessary, and also the documents crediting the legal status of the petitioner.
The filing of the appeal shall stay the enforcement of the resolution challenged. In the event of stay of the sanctions under Sections I and II of article 35 and where third parties may suffer damages, the appeal shall be granted if the petitioner provides sufficient guarantee to repair the damages and to compensate the losses if the resolution is not favourable to him.
The Commission shall issue and notify the resolution within sixty days of the date in which the appeal was filed. It shall be understood that the act challenged is confirmed if the Commission remains silent.
TRANSITORY ARTICLES
ONE.- This Law shall be in effect 180 days after it has been published in the "Diario Oficial de la Federation" (Federal Official Gazette).
TWO.- The first appointment of the five commissioners of the Commission referred to in this law, shall be on this sole occasion of two, four, six, eight and ten year terms respectively.
Subsequent appointments shall be made in accordance with this law-
THREE.- The following are repealed:
All provisions not contrary to this law shall continue to be in effect until expressly revoked, pursuant to the legislation repealed.
Mexico City, D. F., December 18, 1922.- Representative Salvador Abascal Carranza, President.- Senator Carlos Sales Gutierrez, President.- Representative Luis Perez Diaz, Secretary.- Senator Roberto Suarez Nieto, Secretary.- (Rubrics).
In compliance with provisions of Section I of Article 89 of the Political Constitution of the Mexican United States and for its due publication and abidance with, I issue this Decree at the residence of the Federal Executive Power, in Mexico City, Federal District, on December twenty two nineteen ninety two. Carlos Salinas de Gortari.- (Rubric).The Secretary of the Interior, Fernando Gutierrez Barrios.- (Rubric)