New UK competition laws set to come into full force on Friday 20th June will help to crack down on abuses that are harmful for consumers and businesses alike, according to the UK's Office of Fair Trading (OFT).
Certain provisions of the Enterprise Act - passed last November - came into force on April 1st. These included the establishment of the OFT as an independent statutory body with a Board. The Act also, at that time, increased the OFT's role with regard to market regulation and consumer protection.
However, several other changes, relating to both competition law and the enforcement of consumer legislation, remained, and will be implemented on Friday.
These include the creation of a clear competition test for merger decisions, with government ministers only to become involved in cases where there are defined public interest issues such as national security, and the introduction of criminal penalties for individuals engaging in activities such as horizontal price fixing, limiting supply or production, market sharing, and bid-rigging.
The Act will also allow the OFT to apply to the courts for the disqualification of company directors if their organisation breaches competition law.
With regard to the enforcement of consumer law, the Enterprise Act gives the OFT, trading standards departments and other designated enforcers greater power to obtain court orders against businesses which break consumer laws, and allows certain consumer bodies to make 'super complaints' which must be dealt with by the OFT within 90 days.
Speaking earlier this week, Chairman of the OFT, John Vickers announced that:
'The Enterprise Act coming into force on 20 June is a major milestone in the development of competition and consumer law. The Act, building on previous legislation, creates a clearer and sharper framework for markets and enterprise. Markets that work well are good for consumers and all the fair dealing businesses that serve them well.'
.
Network Tweets
Network BlogsContent
provided by
|
Archive | Resources | Partners | Site Map | Links | Newsletter Archive | Contact | RSS Feeds | About | Syndication | Advertising & Marketing | Recruitment | Terms & Conditions | Privacy & Cookies
Copyright © 2012 - All Rights Reserved - Tax-News.com
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Tax-News.com has taken reasonable care in sourcing and presenting the information contained on this site, but accepts no responsibility for any financial or other loss or damage that may result from its use. In particular, users of the site are advised to take appropriate professional advice before committing themselves to involvement in offshore jurisdictions, offshore trusts or offshore investments.
Write a comment