OMAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Said Al-Shahry, Thamer Al-Shahry, Jeremy Pooley, Maria Mariam Rabeaa Petrou, Mujtaba Ali Kazmi and Salim Al Harthi, Said Al Shahry & Partners
6.3 Cartels The Competition Law provides that any agreement, arrangement or practice (whether concluded inside or outside Oman) that has the object of preventing, limiting or weakening competition is prohibited. Express examples of prohibited practices include col - lusion in bids or tenders among persons, or drawing up provisions in the conditions of tenders such as the inclusion of the trade mark of the commodity or speci - fication of its type (ie, cartels). The Competition Law contains a non-exhaustive list of practices that would be treated as having the object of preventing, limiting or weakening competition. 6.4 Abuse of Dominant Position The abuse of a dominant position is prohibited under the Competition Law. Any person who enjoys a domi - nant position is prohibited from carrying out any prac - tice likely to prejudice, restrict or prevent competition. The Competition Law also contains a non-exhaustive list of practices that would be caught by this prohibi - tion on abusing a dominant position. The Competition Law defines a dominant position as the ability of a person or a group of persons who directly or indirectly work jointly to control or influ - ence the market concerned, including the acquisi - tion of more than a 35% share of that market. The “market concerned” is also defined in the Competi - tion Law, and has two key elements: relevant product and the geographical scope. Identifying and applying the scope of the “market concerned” to the activity/ practice in question is key to determining whether a dominant position has arisen. Agreements and arrangements (whether conclud - ed inside or outside Oman) that aim to secure the monopoly of the import, production, distribution, sale or purchase of any goods or circulation thereof are also prohibited, as is performing any monopolistic act that would affect the market. For these purposes, a “monopoly” is defined in the Competition Law as the control by a person or a group of persons directly or indirectly of the quantity and prices of a kind of goods or service in a manner that would result in a
restriction or cause an adverse effect on the freedom of competition. The Executive Regulations In January 2021, the executive regulations of the Competition Law were issued pursuant to MOCIIP Ministerial Decision No 18/2021 (the “Regulations”). The Regulations aim to remove uncertainty and pro - vide clear guidance in determining whether or not an arrangement would fall within the scope of the Com - petition Law. In doing so, the Regulations provide further guidance on the meaning of dominance, relevant products and geographical scope. They should therefore be con - sulted when assessing whether or not an arrangement would fall within the scope of the Competition Law (ie, whether or not an arrangement would be considered a prohibited practice or whether a transaction would require MOCIIP pre-approval). The Regulations also set out clear guidance as to when market dominance could be triggered, as fol - lows: • where a person or persons acquire shares exceed - ing 35% of the relevant market; and • where a person is able to influence product prices, or the volume of the supply of products, even if that person’s share is less than 35% of the relevant market. The Regulations set out the process to apply for MOCIIP approval for an economic concentration and provide that the application must be accompanied by several documents, including information determin - ing the nature and structure of the economic con - centration. Justification for the economic concentra - tion, copies of reports, studies and questionnaires prepared for the purpose of assessing the economic concentration must also be provided. It is important to note that the Regulations provide that all documents submitted as part of the economic concentration application must be in Arabic; if they are in a foreign language, an attested and certified Arabic translation must be attached.
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