On December 9, 2024, Decree No. 32-2024 of the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala was published in the Official Gazette, which decrees the Competition Law.
The purpose of the Law is to promote and protect competition to strengthen economic efficiency and benefit consumers, through the prevention, investigation, prosecution and sanction of anti-competitive practices and restrictions to the efficient operation of markets.
This Law shall apply on a supplementary basis to economic agents regulated by sectorial laws with competition rules and supervision by a regulatory authority, with special provisions prevailing.
The following is a brief summary of the same:
Anticompetitive practices: are considered anticompetitive practices, any absolute or relative practice, as the case may be, which is prohibited and sanctioned by law.
Absolute practices. Absolute practices are any agreement, contract, agreement, decision or concerted practice between two or more competing economic agents, which have the effect of any of the following:
a) Agreeing, arranging, fixing or manipulating prices, charges, discounts, fees, royalties, tariffs or rates, directly or indirectly, in the sale or purchase of goods or services.
b) Divide, distribute, allocate or impose portions or segments of an actual or potential market for goods or services, whether by territory, by sales or determinable volume, by customers or vendors, by allocation of sources of inputs or by any other means.
c) To fix, limit or restrict the production, demand, distribution or commercialization of goods or services, whether by quantity, volume or frequency.
d) Agreeing or coordinating bids in national or international public contracting processes.
Prohibition of absolute monopolistic practices. Economic agents that incur in absolute practices will be subject to the sanctions established in the Law.
Relative practices. Relative practices are considered agreements, contracts or actions carried out by one or more agents with a dominant position in a relevant market, which have the effect of displacing other agents in an anti-competitive manner, significantly impeding their access or creating exclusive anti-competitive advantages in favor of certain economic agents.
This Decree was declared of national urgency and will be effective as follows:
a) As of January 1, 2025, Chapter I (General Provisions) and Chapter IV (Promotion of Free Competition) of Title I (General Provisions, Promotion and Defense of Competition); as well as all the Chapters comprising Titles II (Superintendence of Competition), V (Amendments and Repeals) and VI (Final and Transitory Provisions).
b) Two years after its publication in the Official Gazette, Chapter II (Defense of Free Competition) and Chapter III (Economic Concentrations) of Title I (General Provisions, Promotion and Defense of Competition); Title III (Administrative Process) and Title IV (Infringements, Sanctions, Measures and Statute of Limitations).
For further information, please contact our offices.
Mario Salazar mario.salazar@gt.Andersen.com
Mauro Hernández mauro.hernandez@gt.Andersen.com
Evelyn Guerra evelyn.guerra@gt.Andersen.com
