Oman competition law
Oman introduces new Executive Regulations on Competition Law By Thomas Wigley, Partner, Trowers & Hamlins Oman Ministerial Decision 18/2021, issued on 9 January 2021, introduced the executive regulations for the Law on the Protection of Competition and Prevention of Monopoly (the Regulations), accompanying the legal framework set out in Royal Decree 67/2014 amended by Royal Decree 22/2018 (the Competition Law). The Regulations took effect on 25 January 2021 and aim to remove uncertainty in establishing whether or not an activity falls within the scope of the Competition Law and provide clearer guidance for market participants. The Regulations will be relevant to private sector investors with a physical presence in Oman as well as those who are participating in the Oman market without having a physical presence.
DETERMINING THE RELEVANT MARKET
Pursuant to the Competition Law, in order to determine whether or not an action falls within its scope, it
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must be established that such action affects a relevant market. Although the Competition Law states that a relevant market is a market based on relevant products and geographical scope, before the Regulations were introduced there was some ambiguity as to how a relevant market was to be determined. The Regulations provide guidance on this by clarifying what constitutes a relevant product and a geographical scope for the purposes of the Competition Law. The Regulations state that the following factors should be considered when determining relevant products: 1. Whether the products are similar in properties and use; 2. Ease of switching from one product to another for buyers as a result of a change in price in the short run or as a result of other competitive factors; 3. The ability to switch to and market the relevant products in the short
term without incurring significant additional costs or risks as a result of the changes in their prices; 4. Market changes that indicate the existence of alternative products; 5. Costs of shifting demand to potential alternative products and associated changes; and 6. Feedback from customers and competitors in the market. The Regulations also stipulate that the following criteria should be taken into consideration when determining the geographical scope: 1. The ability for buyers of the relevant product to move between geographical areas as a result of price changes or other competitive factors and whether sellers make their commercial decisions based on this; 2. How easy it is for new competitors and consumers to enter the relevant market;
