Mexico City.– The Federal Economic Competition Commission’s (Cofece) immunity program, which is an instrument for reporting anti-competitive practices, should be maintained regardless of what happens with the regulatory bodies, said Carlos Mena, an expert in economic competition.
This is a program that companies use to report bad practices in exchange for reduced penalties.
Last year, 15 economic agents resorted to this instrument. However, it was in 2016 when the most cases were reported, with 26 complaints, according to Cofece data.
“Competition laws will continue to apply, in countries that are trading partners there is an Immunity Program like the one in Mexico and that will continue.
“It is important that the officials who handle these issues are well versed in the technical aspects because it is a complex program that requires proper functioning in terms of confidentiality of information and that the officials are trustworthy,” said the former head of the Investigative Authority and founder of the program.
During the pandemic, there was a decrease in requests for immunity, he said, but the confidence that companies have in the program and in Cofece has been improving.
“This program has a very important weight, it is one of the most important tools to detect cartels and collusion in the markets, it should certainly be one of several tools.
“The market intelligence department at Cofece has made an effort to generate new cases proactively, ex officio, and that has served to bring about new investigations, even when the Immunity Program is not used,” he commented.
Cofece also uses verification visits to companies as a tool; however, last year only six were carried out, while in 2018 there were 26.
In this regard, Carlos Mena considered that there should also be more verification visits so that the authority can detect anti-competitive practices.
“I think that there should be more use of tools such as verification visits because in such a large country and such a diverse economy, more action is needed from the competition authority,” he warned.
A bill will be discussed in Congress that aims to eliminate regulatory bodies as they are currently known.
If approved, Cofece would become part of the structure of the Ministry of Economy and the entire organization would be disintegrated.
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