Economic Concentration - Jordanian Competition Law
On August 2002, Jordan has adopted the first Competition Law,
which was issued as a provisional law under the number 49/2002 and
replaced by the current law number 33 for the year 2004. The
Competition Law identified the relevant competition bodies in
Jordan and tackled several issues related to competition. The main
segments of the law cover anticompetitive collusions, abuse of
dominant position, regulating mergers and acquisitions, and
ensuring fairness of economic transactions.
The Competition Directorate at the Ministry of Industry &
Trade was established in 2002 and entrusted with certain powers to
execute and enforce the competition in. In addition to its role in
the general competition plans and legislations, the Competition
Directorate plays major role in promoting, protecting and
encouraging free competition as well as issuing opinions on matters
related to its activities. It is also empowered to gather
information to uncover practices that restrict and distort
competition and to conduct investigations into such practices as
well as receiving and following up applications related to economic
concentration, and prepare reports, recommendations and draft
decisions in respect of such applications.
Economic Concentration is defined in the Competition Law as
(Any activity resulting in the full or partial transfer of
ownership of or interest in property or rights or shares or
obligations of an Enterprise to another, and which may enable an
Enterprise or a group of Enterprises to control, directly or
indirectly, another Enterprise or group of Enterprises is
considered an economic concentration operation).
The economic concentration transaction would require the
approval of the Minister of Industry & Trade
("Minister") if it has impact on the level of competition
in the market that exceeds 40% or more of the total local market
transaction.
The Competition Law identified the filing requirements and
procedures to obtain the approval of the Minister on the economic
concentration transaction. The application for approving the
economic concentration transaction ("Application") must
be made by the relevant enterprises on the form adopted by the
Ministry of Industry & Trade ("Ministry") within 30
days of the execution of an economic concentration transaction
agreement or the execution of a preliminary economic concentration
transaction agreement.
The Application must be accompanied with the following:
Copy of the articles and memorandum of...
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