KUWAIT Law and Practice Contributed by: Sam Habbas, Luis Cunha, Hisham Al-Quraan and Mustafa Sayed, ASAR – Al Ruwayeh & Partners
responsible for undertaking all tasks and duties related to the customs affairs, including imple - menting decisions issued by the government ministries and other departments in the State of Kuwait with respect to the importation of goods. The standard customs duty rate in Kuwait is 5% of the cost, insurance, and freight value of the imported goods. However, certain categories of products are subject to different duty rates or exemptions depending on their nature, purpose or country of origin. For example: • Kuwait applies unified customs duties with other GCC countries and there are certain preferential agreements with other Arab coun - tries which impact the applicable customs duties; • tobacco and its derivatives, amongst other products, are subject to higher customs duties; • items imported for official use by government institutions may be exempt; and • raw materials and machinery used in indus - trial production by Kuwaiti entities may be eligible for exemptions or reduced rates. Personal belongings and items accompanying a person moving to Kuwait are often exempt.
during July 2021 (under CPA Resolution 14 of 2021) and which have since been supplement - ed; these regulations give further effect to the Competition Law. The Competition Law and its implementing regulations have brought about a number of significant changes to M&A, which should be accounted for going forward. When acquiring or merging with another busi - ness, certain reporting obligations and approv - al requirements arise in the context of what is considered to be an “economic concentration”. Such economic concentration is defined under the Competition Law to include ”a permanent change of control in the relevant market, arising by way of merger or acquisition”. Such control may also be exercised in concert with other per - sons, whether directly or indirectly. Article 10 of the Competition Law provides that such economic concentration is deemed to be present in the following instances: • the merger of two or more persons or parts of their businesses that results in control or an increase of control; • the acquisition of direct or indirect control over another one or more persons through acquiring, amongst other things, assets, equi - ties, usufruct and/or shares; or • the existence of a partnership between two or more persons that leads to a permanent and independent economic or commercial activ - ity, whatever the legal form or activity that is practised. Article 10 of the Competition Law has been drafted in broad terms and is largely duplicated in the implementing regulations. However, the definition of what is to be considered an eco - nomic concentration provides that there should also be a change of control of a particular mar -
6. Competition Law 6.1 Merger Control Notification
Kuwait has recently overhauled its competition regulatory regime, with a new Competition Law (No 72 of 2020) promulgated during November 2020. The Competition Protection Authority (CPA) has been tasked with implementing the Competition Law and regulating competition matters generally in Kuwait. The CPA issued implementing regulations, which were published
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