OMAN LAW AND PRACTICE Contributed by: Said Al-Shahry, Thamer Al-Shahry, Jeremy Pooley, Maria Mariam Rabeaa Petrou, Shadha Al Kharusi and Salim Al Harthi, Said Al Shahry & Partners (SASLO )
enhancing regulatory transparency without alter - ing existing duty rates. Oman’s active engagement in new FTA negotia - tions is expected to have a significant impact on its future tariff landscape. Through its partici - pation in GCC-level negotiations with partners such as the United Kingdom, Turkey, and Japan, Oman is working to expand preferential access for its exports while further liberalising imports from key trading partners. Anti-competitive practices in Oman are regu - lated by the Competition Law RD 67/2014 (as amended – the “Competition Law”) and its exec - utive regulations. Any person intending to take any action resulting in an ”economic concentra - tion” must submit a written application to the MOCIIP. An “economic concentration” is defined in the Competition Law as ”any act that results in the transfer of the ownership of all or part of the assets, shares, stocks, use, rights or obligations of one person to another person or establish - ing consortiums or amalgamations or combin - ing two or more managements under one joint management, which is likely to cause a person or a group of persons directly or indirectly to be in a dominant position.” Joint ventures are, therefore, potentially caught by this definition. Any action that would lead to an economic con - centration resulting in the acquisition of more than 50% of the market concerned may not be approved by the MOCIIP, which has the dis - cretion to approve or reject applications falling below this 50% threshold. 6. Competition Law 6.1 Merger Control Notification
The scope of the Competition Law is broad. It applies to all activities of production, commerce, services and any other economic or commercial activities practised in Oman and to any econom - ic or commercial activities performed outside Oman that would have consequential effects inside Oman. The Competition Law also regulates the abuse of IP rights, where this would have an adverse effect on competition. It does contain limited exemptions, however, including for public utility companies and certain R&D activities. 6.2 Merger Control Procedure The MOCIIP will examine any application for clearance of an economic concentration (see 6.1 Merger Control Notification ) and issue a deci - sion within 90 days (and will be deemed to have approved the application if it does not respond within such timeframe). 6.3 Cartels The Competition Law provides that any agree - ment, arrangement or practice (whether con - cluded inside or outside Oman) that has the object of preventing, limiting or weakening com - petition is prohibited. Express examples of prohibited practices include collusion in bids or tenders among per - sons, or drawing up provisions in the conditions of tenders such as the inclusion of the trade mark of the commodity or specification 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.
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