Law 149/2011, which approves Government Emergency Ordinance 75/2010, amending Competition Law 21/1996, which will enter force Thursday, has eliminated the provision whereby “a criminal investigation shall be set off upon receiving notification from the Competition Council.” In practice, the Council would inform the Prosecutor’s Office only after completing its own investigation of the anticompetitive act.
The law says it is a crime to take part in devising or organizing an agreement between enterprises, decisions or join practices of enterprise associations, whereby:
– purchase or sale prices, or any other trading conditions are
set, directly or indirectly;
– production, sales, technical development or investments are
limited or controlled;
– markets or supply sources are divided;
– unequal conditions are applied to equivalent services, creating
competitive disadvantage;
– partners are required to provide additional services, unrelated
to the object of a contract, as a condition of signing the
contract;
– competitors are driven out of the market, other enterprises are
prevented or limited from entering the market, or deals are made to
refuse to buy from/sell to a certain enterprise without reasonable
grounds.
These crimes are punished by six months to three years in prison, or a fine and the denial of certain rights.