Source: |
Gov Gazette |
|
Volume: |
406 |
|
Date: |
30-04-1999 |
|
Notice No: |
513 |
|
Type: |
GOV |
|
Originator: |
OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT |
|
Notice Title: |
NO. 35 of 1999: COMPETITION ACT, 1999 |
|
Regulation No: |
0 |
OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
30 April 1999
It is hereby
notified that the President has assented to the following
Act which is hereby
published for general information:-
GENERAL
EXPLANATORY NOTE:
Words in bold
type indicate omissions from existing enactments.
Words in italics
indicate insertions in existing enactments.
(English text
signed by the President.)
(Assented to 14 April
1999.)
To amend the
Competition Act, 1998, so as to close an existing loophole in respect of merger
control; to determine the status and validity period of a ministerial notice;
to make pre-merger notification compulsory in certain instances; to make
provision for certain matters on appeal; to provide for certain transitional
arrangements; and to provide for matters connected therewith.
BE IT ENACTED by
the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa, as
follows:-
1. Schedule 3 to the Competition Act, 1998, is
hereby amended-
(a) by the substitution for item 1 of the following
item:
“1. A ruling
issued in terms of section 6(1)(a)
6(2)(a) of the
Maintenance and Promotion of Competition Act,
1979 (Act No. 86 of
1979) (Act No. 96 of 1979), or notice
issued in terms of
section 14(1)© of that Act, in relation to an
“acquisition” as
defined in that Act, must be regarded for the purposes
of this Act, depending
on the context, to be either-
(a) a conditional approval of a merger as if it had
been granted after this Act came into operation, by the Competition Commission
in terms of section 14(1)(b)(ii) or by the Competition Tribunal in terms of
section 16(2)(b)
15(2)(b); or
(b) a prohibition of a merger as if it had been
prohibited after this Act came into operation, by the Competition Commission in
terms of section 14(1)(b)(iii) or by the Competition Tribunal in terms of
section 15(2)©.”;
(b) by the insertion after item 3 of the following
item:
“3A. A notice
issued by the Minister in terms of section 14(1)© of the Maintenance and
Promotion of Competition Act, 1979 (Act No. 96 of 1979), in relation to a
“restrictive practice” or a “monopoly situation” as defined in that Act, must
be regarded as an order in terms of section 60(1)(a) of this Act and is valid
for a period of 12 months from the date on which this Act comes into
operation.”;
(c) by the addition to item 4 of the following
paragraph:
“(e) The chairperson
of the Competition Board contemplated in section 3 of the Maintenance and
Promotion of Competition Act, 1979 (Act No. 96 of 1979), must be regarded as a
reference to either the Competition Commissioner contemplated in section 22 of
this Act, or the chairperson of the Competition Tribunal contemplated in
section 26 of this Act, as determined by the Minister.”
(d) by the insertion after item 4 of the following
items:
“4A. Any
transaction that takes place between the date on which
this Act is published
and the date on which this Act comes into
operation, and which
would constitute an intermediate or large merger
if it had taken place
after this Act came into operation, is regarded
for a period of 12
months after the date on which this Act comes into
operation as a merger
in contravention of Chapter 3 and is subject to
the provisions of
section 62(1), unless-
(a) the transaction has been approved by the
Competition Board in terms of the Maintenance and Promotion of Competition Act,
1979
(Act No. 96 of
1979); or
(b) the transaction has been notified in terms of
item 4B.
4B. Any party to
a transaction contemplated in item 4A may, within three months after the date
on which this Act comes into operation, notify the Competition Commission of the
transaction in terms of section 13 as if it were an intermediate or large
merger.
4C. The
provisions of Chapter 3, with the changes required by the context, apply to a
transaction that is notified under item 4B.
4D. After this
Act comes into operation, any appeal pending before a special court
contemplated in section 15 of the Maintenance and Promotion of Competition Act,
1979 (Act No. 96 of 1979), must be regarded as an appeal to the Competition
Appeal Court contemplated in section 36 of this Act in the manner prescribed.
4E. Subject to
items I to 3A, the Competition Appeal Court may, after hearing any appeal
contemplated in item 4D, make any decision that the special court could have
made in terms of section 15(10) of the Maintenance and Promotion of Competition
Act, 1979 (Act No. 96 of 1979), and the provisions of this Act otherwise apply
to that decision, as if it were a decision of the Competition Appeal Court in
terms of this Act.
4F. (1)
Notwithstanding sections 6 and 11, the first determinations of thresholds made
by the Minister in terms of those sections must be made before the date on
which this Act comes into operation.
(2)
Notwithstanding sections 6(2) and 11(2), the first
determinations
contemplated in subsection (1) take effect on the date
on which this Act comes
into operation.”; and
(e) by the substitution for the expression “(Act
No. 86 of 1979)”, wherever it appears, of the expression “(Act No. 96 of
1979)”.
2. This Act is called the Competition Amendment Act,
1999, and comes into operation on a date determined by the President by
proclamation in the Gazette.