SAUDI ARABIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Dana Halwani and Leanne Farsi, Derayah LLPC
6.4 Abuse of Dominant Position Under the 2019 Competition Regulation, a domi - nant entity is defined as having a 40% market share or the ability to influence a particular mar - ket. Dominant businesses may not abuse their posi - tion, nor disturb or limit competition. Article 6 of the 2019 Competition Regulation sets out the following non-exclusive list of practices that are prohibited for dominant businesses: • selling a commodity or service at a price less than the total cost, in order to exclude enter - prises from the market or to expose them to grave loss, or to impede the entry of potential enterprises; • fixing or imposing prices or conditions for the resale of commodities or services; • reducing or increasing the available quantities of products in order to control prices or fabri - cate a non-genuine abundance or shortage; • discriminating in dealings between enterpris - es in respect of similar contracts with regard to the prices of commodities, consideration for services, or conditions of sale or purchase thereof; • refusing to deal with another enterprise without objective cause, in order to restrict its entry to the market; • imposing a requirement on an enterprise that it should refrain from dealing with another enterprise; and • making the sale of a commodity or the provision of a service conditional upon the assumption of obligations or the acceptance of goods or services that – by their nature or under commercial usage – are uncon - nected with the commodity or service that is the subject matter of the original contract or transaction.
• fixing the volumes, weights or quantities of production of commodities or the perfor - mance of services; • restricting the freedom of flow of commodi - ties or services to the markets, or wholly or partially removing them therefrom by conceal - ing or storing them without right, or refusing to deal therein; • any conduct tending to impede the entry of an enterprise to the market, or excluding it therefrom; • withholding commodities or services available on the market wholly or in part from a particu - lar enterprise or enterprises; • dividing up the markets for the sale or pur - chase of commodities or goods, or allocat - ing them in accordance with any criterion, particularly according to geographical areas, distribution centres, types of customers, or seasons and periods of time; • freezing operations of manufacture, develop - ment, distribution and marketing and all other modes of investment, or restricting them; and • colluding or co-ordinating in bids or offers in governmental or other auctions or tenders in such a manner as to disturb competition. The GAC has both an investigation department and a tribunal that adjudicates on violations of the Competition Regulation. The decisions of the Committee for the Determination of Violations of the Competition Regulation are appealable to the Administrative Court, but such appeals have so far, for the most part, been unsuccessful. Since the GAC was established in 2004, originally as the Competition Protection Council, it has taken to court and convicted enterprises in a variety of industries, including cement, medical gases, rice, sugar and soft drinks.
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