Key Benefits:
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DECREE NO. 528
THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF EL SALVADOR,
WHEREAS:
I. That Article 101 of the Constitution of the Republic requires the State to promote economic and social development, through increased production, productivity, rational utilization of resources, as well as the defense of the interest of consumers;
II. That Article 102 of the Constitution of the Republic guarantees economic freedom, in which it does not oppose the social interest, promoting and protecting private initiative within the conditions that increase national wealth, but that ensure its benefits to the greatest number of inhabitants of the country;
III. That Article 110 of the Constitution of the Republic establishes that monopolies may not be authorized, but in favor of the State or of the Municipalities, when the social interest makes it indispensable; and that monopolistic practices are prohibited for to ensure business freedom and protect the interests of consumers;
IV. That to implement the above constitutional norms and in recognition of the need to achieve a more competitive and efficient economy, promoting its transparency and accessibility, fostering the dynamism and the growth of the same To benefit the consumer, it is necessary to dictate the corresponding legal provisions:
BY TANTO:
in use of its constitutional powers and at the initiative of the deputies Juan Miguel Bolaños, Manuel Vicente Menjívar, Roberto Jose d' Aubuisson, Julio Antonio Gamero, Ernesto Iraheta, Mario Marroquín Mejia, Olga Ortiz, Orlando Arevalo, Alejandro Dagoberto Marroquín and Noe Orlando Gonzalez.
DECRETA, the following:
COMPETITION law
TITLE I
CHAPTER ONLY GENERAL PROVISIONS
Art. 1. The purpose of this law is to promote, protect and ensure competition by preventing and eliminating anti-competitive practices which, in any form, restrict or restrict competition or prevent access to market to any economic operator, in order to increase the economic efficiency and well-being of consumers.
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Agreements, covenants, agreements, contracts between competitors and non-competitors are prohibited, as are acts between competitors and non-competitors whose aim is to limit or restrict competition or to prevent market access to any agent. economic, in the terms and conditions set out in the present law.
Art. 2.-All economic agents, whether natural persons, legal entities, state entities, municipal companies, state-owned enterprises, cooperative associations, or any other body that has the right to be subject to the provisions of this law, shall be subject to the provisions of this law.
However, this Law will not apply to the economic activities that the Constitution and the laws reserve exclusively to the State and the Municipalities. As far as these activities are concerned, the institutions and agencies of the State and the Municipalities are obliged to abide by the provisions contained in this Law.
For the purposes of this law it is considered as an economic agent. natural or legal person, public or private, directly or indirectly engaged in a lucrative economic activity or not.
TITLE II
CHAPTER I OF THE COMPETITION SUPERINTENDENCE
Art. 3.-Create the Superintendency of Competition as an Institution of Public Law, with legal personality and own patrimony, of a technical nature, with administrative and budgetary autonomy for the exercise of the privileges and duties that This Law and the other applicable provisions are stipulated in this Law.
The Superintendence, will have its domicile in the capital of the Republic and will be empowered to establish offices in any place of the national territory. The Superintendence will be related to the Executive Body through the Ministry of Economy.
Art. 4.-The Superintendence of Competition, which in the text of this Law will be called "the Superintendence", is intended to ensure compliance with the Law of Competition, hereinafter "the Law", by means of a system of technical analysis, legal and economic that should be complemented by supporting studies and other relevant to perform all these activities in an optimal way.
Art. 5.-The Superintendence will have the units that are established in the respective regulations.
Art. 6.-The maximum authority of the Superintendence shall be the Board of Directors, which may be referred to as "the Council", which shall be composed of the Superintendent and two Directors, appointed by the President of the Republic.
Superintendent will chair the Board.
There will be three alternate Directors appointed in the same way as the owners, who will attend the Board of Directors with a voice but no vote, except when they act in replacement of the Directors
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owners.
In any case which by excuse or recusal cannot be known to the owner or his or her respective alternate, the Directors shall call upon the rest of the alternates to form a Council; the Council so integrated shall appoint by resolution, to one of the Directors who owns or alternate to know the subject matter, in default of the Superintendent.
In order for the sessions of the Council to be considered valid the assistance of the three members will be necessary owners or those who do their times.
The resolutions of the Superintendence, will be taken by most of its members.
The Board of Directors will meet at least once a month or when circumstances make it necessary, upon convocation of the Superintendent or who does his or her times.
Superintendent, the owner and alternate members attending the sessions shall be entitled to receive the allowances fixed for that purpose.
Art. 7.-The Superintendent shall be a full-time official and shall not be able to exercise any professional activity except for university teaching, provided that he is not in detriment of the development of his or her duties.
Superintendent the Legal Representation of the Superintendence and will be in charge of the Superior Directorate and the supervision of the activities of the Superintendence.
The Superintendent will be able to grant the necessary powers with the previous one. Council authorization.
Art. 8.-The Superintendent and Directors will last five years in their duties and may be re-elected to their positions.
Art. 9.-The Superintendent and the Directors must be Salvadorans, over thirty years of age, with a university degree in economics, law, business administration or other related professions, of recognized honorability, notorious probity, with knowledge and experiences in the fields related to their privileges and to be in possession of the rights of citizens and not to have lost them in the five years prior to the appointment. The Directors will not be able to have any kinship links within the fourth degree of consanguinity or second degree of affinity.
Art. 10.-They are unfit to be members of the Council:
a) Those who are legally incapable;
b) The officials mentioned in Art. 236 of the Constitution of the Republic, as well as their spouses and relatives within the second degree of consanguinity and first affinity;
c) Insolvent, or with pending judgments in bankruptcy or contest and the
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broken, as long as they have not been rehabilitated;
d) Those who have been convicted of intentional crimes; and
e) The Directors, officials, administrators, proxies and other legal representatives of the subject economic agents to the provisions of this Law.
Art. 11.-They are the cause of removal of the members of the Council, the following:
a) Incurring a cause of incompatibility in the exercise of the position after his appointment;
b) Serious non-compliance with the obligations and functions inherent in the charge, including failure to comply with the deadline referred to in the case of Art. 35 (1) of this law;
c) Negated or impericia in its actions, duly proven;
d) When for its conduct it may compromise the seriousness and impartiality of the exercise of the Superintendence;
e) Physical disability or mental that makes it impossible to exercise office; and
f) When for reasons not justified, stop attending four consecutive sessions.
When one of the aforementioned removal causes exists or occurs, the management of the Member of the Council, and shall be replaced. It shall be for the President of the Republic, on his own initiative or at the request of any interested party, after hearing the person concerned, and following due process in accordance with Article 11 of the Constitution, to declare the suspension in office and to proceed without delay. procrastination with expression of cause to qualify or declare the removal and replacement of the same.
The acts authorized by the member of the Council shall not be invalidated with respect to the institution and to third parties, except in the case of incapacity mental or when the cause of removal originates in an act that benefits directly or indirectly to the official.
Art. 12. The members of the Council and the staff in charge of the Council shall be required to know in cases where they may obtain a direct or indirect benefit. It is understood that there is an interest in a subject, when a personal connection is made, whether the spouse has his or her spouse or is derived from a relationship of kinship within the fourth degree of consanguinity or second degree of affinity, with persons
" Superintendence officials may be challenged by reasoned writing, in any state of the procedures set forth in this Law.
From the date on which the In writing, the official may not intervene either in the decision of the incident or in the the procedure in question, but the acts performed in advance shall be valid.
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The knowledge and decision about the origin of the recusal will correspond to the Council.
Art. 13.-THEY ARE PRIVILEGES AND DUTIES OF THE SUPERINTENDENT: (1)
a) To know of trade or denunciation, those situations in which the competition in the market may be affected, carrying out the investigations and ordering the instruction of the file
b) Declare the admissibility, inadmissibility or impropriety of the complaints filed;
c) PERIODICALLY ORDER AND HIRE THE CONDUCT OF MARKET STUDIES AND SPECIFIC CONSULTANCIES ON TECHNICAL ASPECTS THAT ARE NECESSARY TO MEET THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS LAW; RESULTS OF THESE STUDIES MAY BE PUBLISHED; (1)
d) Coordinate the work of the Superintendence;
e) Maintain a file of all the official documents of the Superintendence;
f) Protect the confidentiality of the business, commercial, or official information contained in the Superintendence file;
g) Request to any authority in the country or abroad the information necessary to investigate possible violations of the law;
h) Name and remove the staff from the Superintendence, including the Intended to be established in the Rules of Procedure, in which you may delegate the privileges conferred to you by this Law;
i) Handling complaints for violations of the law;
j) Compiling resolutions and publishing them;
k) Publishing a report
l) Establish coordination mechanisms with the Regulatory Authorities to prevent and combat the anti-competitive practices referred to in the Law;
m) Participate in the negotiation and discussion of International treaties or conventions on Competition Policies;
n) Carry out a public education program to promote the culture of competition;
o) Inform and request the intervention of the Attorney General of the Republic, as the case may be, when the situation warrants it;
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p) Represent the country to International Organizations related to Competition Policies;
q) Develop the Annual Operating Expenditure Budget Project, for the approval of the Board; and
r) CONDUCT RECORDS OR SEARCHES, FOR WHICH THE SUPERINTENDENT MUST PRESENT THE APPLICATION TO THE JUDGE OF FIRST INSTANCE WITH CIVIL OR COMMERCIAL JURISDICTION IN THE LOCALITY WHERE THE REAL ESTATE OR PROPERTY IS LOCATED THAT IS INTENDED TO BE REGISTERED OR TO BE SEARCHED; (1)
S) TO DICTATE THE PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES THAT IT CONSIDERS NECESSARY TO ENSURE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE FINAL RESOLUTION. THEY MAY BE ORDERED AT ANY TIME DURING THE EXAMINATION OF THE SANCTIONING PROCEDURE, BY MEANS OF A REASONED DECISION.
PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES MAY CONSIST OF A TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF ACTIVITIES, THE HOLDING OF CERTAIN PRODUCTS OR SERVICES TO CONDITIONS IN PARTICULAR, INTER ALIA, AS WELL AS ANY OTHER OF THOSE CONTAINED IN THE RULES IN FORCE AND WHICH MAY BE PROHIBITED. BE APPLICABLE TO THE CASE.
THE MEASURES WILL BE MAINTAINED AS LONG AS THE CAUSES THAT GAVE RISE TO ITS ADOPTION PERSIST; (1)
T) EXERCISE THE OTHER FUNCTIONS AND POWERS THAT CORRESPOND TO IT IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAW AND OTHER APPLICABLE PROVISIONS. (1)
Art. 14.-THE COUNCIL ' S DUTIES AND DUTIES: (1)
a) Impose penalties under this Law;
b) Order and contract the conduct of market studies and specific consultancies on technical aspects that are necessary to meet the objective of this law, provided that where such studies serve to extend or supplement those performed by the Superintendent during the instruction of the files;
c) To instruct the Superintendent to initiate trade investigations;
d) To order the cessation of the anticompetitive practices in accordance with the terms set forth in this law;
e) Authorize, deny or condition economic concentration requests in accordance with the Law;
f) Know and resolve on the review facility filed against its resolutions pursuant to this Act;
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g) Resolve the cases of your jurisdiction and apply the appropriate sanctions;
h) Inform the Regulatory Authorities, when the product of the investigation of an anti-competitive practice is determined that the cause or the problem has its origin in the regulations of the said entities, in order to take the measures
i)study and submit to the Executive Body, through the Economic Master, proposals for reforms to the Law, regulations and other applicable regulations;
j) Issue a glossary of terms used for the Law enforcement; and
k) Approving the Annual Operating Expenditure Budget.
l) TO ISSUE, ON REQUEST OR ON ITS OWN INITIATIVE, OPINION ON DRAFT LAWS, ORDINANCES OR REGULATIONS IN WHICH THE COMPETITION MAY BE LIMITED, RESTRICTED OR SIGNIFICANTLY IMPEDED; (1)
m) TO ISSUE, ON REQUEST OR ON ITS OWN INITIATIVE, OPINION ON PROCUREMENT AND PROCUREMENT PROCEDURES, IN WHICH IT MAY BE LIMITED, RESTRICTED OR SIGNIFICANTLY IMPEDED. (1)
THE OPINIONS ISSUED BY THE COUNCIL, WHICH ARE MADE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE PERSONS CONCERNED, SHALL NOT BE OF A RESOLUTION OR BE SUBJECT TO ANY CHALLENGE OR APPEAL. (1)
STAFF CHAPTER II
Art. 15.-The staff of the Superintendence shall be governed by the provisions of the Rules of Procedure, which shall be issued by the Superintendent.
Art. 16.-Officials and employees of the Superintendence may not be the spouse, or the relatives up to the fourth degree of consanguinity or second of the Superintendent's affinity.
Art. 17.-Every official, employee, delegate, agent, who for any degree provides services to the Superintendence shall declare under oath, in writing to the Superintendent, the positions occupied or occupied and any economic activity or commercial in that you are involved or have been found for the past three years.
Art. 18.-Officials, employees, delegates, experts, agents or persons who are entitled to the Superintendence shall be prohibited from disclosing any information which has obtained the performance of their duties or may be used for the purposes of such information for personal or third-party purposes, without prejudice to the criminal liability to which it takes place.
In the contracts to be concluded for the provision of services, a confidentiality and penalty clause shall be included failure to comply with it.
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Those who violate this provision will be removed from office, sanctioned according to the Law, without prejudice to the criminal liability to which they should take place.
Art. 19.-Officials, employees, delegates, experts, agents or persons who are entitled to the Superintendence shall be prohibited from receiving direct or indirect money and other effects as gifts, gifts or other forms. comes from economic operators subject to the provisions of this Law, whether they are their Directors, officials, administrators, proxies, legal representatives, heads or employees.
CHAPTER III OF THE BUDGETARY ASSETS
Art. 20.-The estate of the Superintendence shall be constituted by:
a) The resources that the State confers upon it in its commencement;
b) The allocations to be determined in its budget;
c) The movable and immovable property which acquire for the development of its functions;
d) The grants and contributions entrusted to it by the State, and prior to authorization of the State, those granted to it by national and foreign entities;
e) The proceeds from the sale of the publications; and
f) Other income that you can legally obtain.
Art. 21.-The Superintendence will present its budget and salary regime to the Ministry of Finance through the Ministry of Economy, according to its needs and objectives, so that the Ministry will submit it to the approval of the Legislative Body.
The budget shall cover operating and investment expenditure, as well as the estimate of the resources to be obtained by the Superintendency in the relevant financial year, on the basis of the revenue referred to in point (e) of the budget. Art. 20 of this Law.
Art. 22.-The budget period of the Superintendence will be from one January to thirty-one December of each year.
Art. 23.-The inspection and surveillance of the operations and the accounting of the Superintendence will be carried out by an internal auditor appointed by the Board of Directors, which must be an authorized public accountant to practice this profession.
Art. 24.-The Superintendence will be subject to the inspection and surveillance of an external auditors firm that will last a year in its duties, and may be designated for new periods, which will give its reports to the Council.
It will also be subject to the audit of the Court of Auditors of the Republic.
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TITLE III OF ANTI-COMPETITIVE PRACTICES
CHAPTER I OF AGREEMENTS BETWEEN COMPETITORS
Art. 25.-Anti-competitive practices made between competitors are prohibited, inter alia, adopt the following modalities:
a) Establish agreements to fix prices or other conditions of purchase or sale in any form;
b) Fixing or limitation of production quantities;
c) Pricing or limitation of prices at auctions or in any other form of public or private, national or international tender, with the exception of the offer jointly submitted by economic operators which are clearly identified as such in the document presented by bidders; and
d) Market division, either by territory, by volume of sales or purchases, by type of products sold, by customers or vendors, or by any other means.
CHAPTER II OF ANTI-COMPETITIVE PRACTICES ENTER NON-COMPETITORS
Art. 26.-As long as the assumptions of Article 29 of this Law are checked, anti-competitive practices not permitted, among others, shall be considered as:
a) Conditional sale, when a supplier sells a product under condition that the buyer acquires other products from the supplier or associated companies to the supplier;
b) The sale or transaction subject to the condition of not using, nor acquiring, nor selling or providing the goods or services available and normally offered to third parties or third parties; and
c) concertation between several agents or the invitation to them to practice such practice.
Art. 27.-In order for the practices referred to in the previous article to be considered violative of this Law, it must be checked:
a) That the offender or offenders, acting individually or jointly, have a dominant position in the market relevant;
b) To be performed in respect of goods or services that correspond to the relevant market in question; and
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(c) that such practices have produced or could produce the effect of limiting competition, preventing or limiting access to or displacing competitors on the market and, in any event, that there has been injury to the interests of consumers.
Art. 28.-For the determination of the relevant market the following criteria must be considered:
a) The possibilities of replacing the good or service concerned by others, both at national and foreign origin, considering the means technological, to what extent consumers have substitutes and the time required for such substitution;
b) The costs of distribution of the good itself; of its relevant inputs; of its complements and of substitutes within the territory national or from abroad, taking into account their freight, insurance, tariffs and restrictions tariffs, restrictions imposed by economic agents or their associations, as well as the time required to supply the relevant market;
c) The costs and probabilities of users or consumers to attend to other markets; and
d) Regulatory restrictions that limit consumer access to alternative sourcing sources, or supplier access to alternative customers.
Art. 29.-To determine whether an economic operator has a dominant position on the relevant market, it should be considered:
a) Its participation in that market and the possibility of unilaterally fixing prices or restricting supply in the market.
b) The existence of barriers to entry and to the elements that are likely to alter both these barriers and the supply of other competitors;
c) The existence and power of your competitors; and
d) Access possibilities for the economic agent and its competitors to input sources.
CHAPTER III OF ABUSE OF THE DOMINANT POSITION
Art. 30.-Actions that constitute abuses of the dominant position of an economic operator in a market, among others, are prohibited:
a) The creation of obstacles to the entry of competitors or the expansion of competitors existing;
b) When the action is intended to significantly limit, prevent, or displace
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of the competition within the market;
c) The decrease in prices in a systematic way, below the costs, when it is intended to eliminate one or more competitors, or to prevent the entry or expansion of these; and
d) provision of services in some part of the territory of the country at a price different from the one offered elsewhere in the same territory, when the intention or effect is to decrease, eliminate, or displace competition in that part of the country.
CHAPTER IV OF THE CONCENTRATIONS
Art. 31. For the purposes of this Law, it is considered that there is a concentration:
a) When economic agents that have been independent from each other are among others: acts, contracts, agreements, agreements, that have as their purpose the merger, acquisition, consolidation, integration or combination of their business in whole or in parts; and
b) When one or more economic agents who already control at least one other economic operator acquire by any means the direct or indirect control of all or part of more economic agents.
Art. 32.-For the purposes of this law, control shall be understood, the ability of an economic operator to influence another through the exercise of the rights of ownership or the right of use, of all or part of the assets of the economic operator or by means of agreements conferring substantial influence on the composition, voting or decisions of the executive, administrative or legal bodies of the economic operator.
Art. 33.-Concentrations involving the combination of total assets exceeding fifty thousand urban minimum annual wages in the industry or the total income of the same in excess of sixty thousand urban minimum annual wages in the Industry will have to request prior authorization from the Superintendence.
The interested economic agents will submit written application to the Superintendence pointing out the names, denominations or social reasons of the parties involved, the nature of the transaction they wish to bring into effect, accompanying the states financial of the agents involved for the last fiscal year and the other data required to know the transaction.
Art. 34.-To determine whether a concentration will cause a significant limitation of competition, the Superintendence, must take into account, in addition to the criteria set out in Articles 28 and 29 of this Law, the following:
a) Economic efficiency; and
b) Any other relevant element.
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The Superintendence may not refuse the cases of mergers, consolidation, integration or acquisition of control of companies that are subject to its consideration, in the terms established in this Law, when the interested parties show that it can there are significant gains in efficiency, so that results in cost savings and direct benefits to the consumer that cannot be achieved by other means and which is guaranteed not to result in a reduction of the market supply.
Art. 35.-To issue a resolution on a concentration, the Superintendence will have a period of no more than ninety calendar days from the day following the filing of the application.
In case the Superintendence of Competition, require additional information or consider that the submission is insufficient, it must be required within 15 days of the submission of the application. In this case, the time limit set in the previous paragraph will begin to be counted from the day following the presentation of the additional information required.
In the absence of a resolution of the Superintendence of Competition, within the period set, it will be understood that the merge can be performed.
Art. 36.-In the case of concentrations that are carried out by economic agents subject to the supervision of any other audit entity: Superintendence of the Financial System, Superintendence of Pensions, Superintendence of Values, General Superintendence of Electricity and Telecommunications; Authority of Civil Aviation, Harbour Maritime Authority, Superintendence, will have to issue opinion on its origin in accordance with this Law. This opinion will be binding on the audit body.
TITLE IV VIOLATIONS, SANCTIONS, PROCEDURES AND RESOURCES
CHAPTER I OF VIOLATIONS AND SANCTIONS
Art. 37.-To impose sanctions, the Superintendence will take into account the seriousness of the infringement, the damage caused, the effect on third parties, the duration of the anti-competitive practice, the market dimensions and the recidivism.
Art. 38.-INFRINGEMENTS OF THIS LAW SHALL BE SANCTIONED WITH A FINE, THE AMOUNT OF WHICH SHALL BE DETERMINED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CRITERIA LAID DOWN IN THE PREVIOUS ARTICLE AND SHALL HAVE A MAXIMUM OF FIVE THOUSAND URBAN MINIMUM MONTHLY SALARIES IN THE INDUSTRY.
NOTWITHSTANDING THE ABOVE, WHEN THE PRACTICE IS SUBJECT TO PARTICULAR GRAVITY, THE SUPERINTENDENCE MAY IMPOSE, INSTEAD OF THE FINE PROVIDED FOR IN THE PREVIOUS PARAGRAPH, A FINE OF UP TO SIX PER CENT OF THE ANNUAL SALES OBTAINED BY THE INFRINGER OR UP TO SIX PER CENT OF THE VALUE OF ITS ASSETS DURING THE PREVIOUS FINANCIAL YEAR OR A FINE EQUIVALENT TO A MINIMUM OF TWICE AND UP TO A MAXIMUM OF TEN TIMES THE ESTIMATED GAIN ARISING FROM ANTICOMPETITIVE PRACTICES, WHICHEVER IS HIGHER.
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IN ADDITION TO THE ECONOMIC PENALTY, THE SUPERINTENDENCE, IN THE FINAL RESOLUTION, WILL ORDER THE CESSATION OF ANTICOMPETITIVE PRACTICES WITHIN A SPECIFIED PERIOD AND WILL ESTABLISH THE NECESSARY CONDITIONS OR OBLIGATIONS, WHETHER THESE ARE STRUCTURAL OR BEHAVIOUR.
SANCTIONS MAY BE IMPOSED ON THOSE ECONOMIC OPERATORS WHO, HAVING TO DO SO, DO NOT APPLY FOR AUTHORISATION OF A CONCENTRATION.
WHEN THE ECONOMIC AGENT TO WHOM THE REQUEST FOR ECONOMIC CONCENTRATION WAS CONDITIONED DOES NOT COMPLY WITH THE ORDER IN THE FINAL JUDGMENT GIVEN IN THIS CLASS OF AUTHORIZATION PROCEDURE, OR DOES SO IN AN INCOMPLETE, INCORRECT MANNER, FALSE OR MISLEADING, THE SUPERINTENDENCE WILL BE ABLE TO IMPOSE A FINE OF UP TO FIVE THOUSAND URBAN MINIMUM MONTHLY WAGES IN THE INDUSTRY FOR EVERY DAY THAT PASSES WITHOUT THE ORDER BEING COMPLIED WITH.
THE SUPERINTENDENCE MAY ALSO IMPOSE A FINE OF UP TO TEN MONTHLY MINIMUM URBAN WAGES IN THE INDUSTRY FOR EACH DAY OF BACKWARDNESS TO PERSONS WHO DELIBERATELY OR THROUGH NEGLIGENCE DO NOT SUPPLY THE REQUIRED COLLABORATION OR WHO DOING SO IS INCOMPLETE OR INACCURATE; THE SAME FINE MAY BE IMPOSED ON THOSE WHO DO NOT COMPLY WITH A PRECAUTIONARY MEASURE ORDERED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THIS LAW.
TO THE ECONOMIC AGENT WHO HAS FILED A COMPLAINT USING FALSE DATA OR DOCUMENTS WITH THE INTENTION OF LIMITING, RESTRICTING OR PREVENTING COMPETITION, THE FINES REFERRED TO IN THE CASE MAY BE IMPOSED, SUBJECT TO THE RESPECTIVE PROCEDURE. FIRST AND SECOND POINT OF THIS ARTICLE.
THE SUPERINTENDENCE SHALL GIVE NOTICE TO THE INSTITUTIONS OF THE STATE, OF THE PENALTIES IMPOSED FOR VIOLATIONS OF ARTICLE 25 (c), IN ORDER TO RESOLVE THEM IN ACCORDANCE WITH ARTICLE 158 OF THE LAW ON ACQUISITIONS AND HIRING OF THE ADMINISTRATION. PUBLIC. (1)
Art. 39. DURING THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE INVESTIGATION OF ANTICOMPETITIVE PRACTICES OTHER THAN THOSE REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 25 OF THIS LAW, THE ALLEGED INFRINGER MAY PROVIDE SUFFICIENT GUARANTEES TO SUSPEND OR IT WILL MODIFY THE ANTI-COMPETITIVE PRACTICE UNDER INVESTIGATION.
ANY ECONOMIC AGENT WHO HAS INCURRED OR IS ENGAGED IN AN ANTI-COMPETITIVE PRACTICE AMONG COMPETITORS MAY RECOGNIZE IT BEFORE THE SUPERINTENDENT, WHO SHALL VERIFY, AMONG THEM, COMPLIANCE WITH THE FOLLOWING REQUIREMENTS:
(A) BE THE FIRST, AMONG THE ECONOMIC AGENTS INVOLVED IN THE CONDUCT AND CONTRIBUTE THE ELEMENTS OF SUFFICIENT CONVICTION THAT THEY WORK IN THEIR POWER AND OF WHICH THEY CAN DISPOSE AND THAT IN THE JUDGMENT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT ALLOW TO CHECK THE EXISTENCE OF THE PRACTICE AND PARTICIPATION OF OTHER ECONOMIC ACTORS;
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(b) COOPERATE FULLY AND CONTINUOUSLY WITH THE SUPERINTENDENCE IN THE SUBSTANTIATION OF THE INVESTIGATION THAT IT CARRIES OUT;
c) PERFORM THE NECESSARY ACTIONS TO DETERMINE THEIR PARTICIPATION IN THE VIOLATION OF THE LAW.
DURING THE PROCEDURE OF THE PROCEDURE, THE SUPERINTENDENCE WILL KEEP CONFIDENTIAL THE IDENTITY OF THE ECONOMIC OPERATOR SEEKING TO BENEFIT FROM THE BENEFITS OF THIS ARTICLE.
IN BOTH CASES, THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS, AT THE TIME OF ISSUING THE CORRESPONDING FINAL DECISION, SHALL NOT APPLY THE CRITERION SET OUT IN ARTICLE 38 (2) OF THIS LAW TO THE APPLICANT.
THE REQUEST OR RECOGNITION MAY BE CONSIDERED BEFORE THE REFERRAL OF THE CASE TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS IS ORDERED.
THE BENEFIT REGULATED IN THIS ARTICLE MAY BE GRANTED ONLY ONCE FOR EACH ECONOMIC OPERATOR. (1)
CHAPTER II OF PROCEDURES AND RESOURCES
Art. 40.-The procedure before the Superintendent shall be initiated on its own initiative or by complaint.
Art. 41.-The Superintendent may, prior to the initiation of the sanctioning procedure, carry out previous actions by Superintendence officials, with the powers to investigate, find out, inspect anticompetitive practices, for the purpose of determining as a preliminary the concurrence of possible violations of the Law.
In no case shall the result of the previous actions constitute proof within the procedure.
Art. 41-A.-THE SUPERINTENDENT MAY DECREE THE PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 13 (S) OF THIS LAW, WHERE THERE IS AN IMMINENT RISK TO THE MARKET WHICH MAY RESULT IN THE LIMITATION OF COMPETITION, THE ACCESS FROM AN ECONOMIC OPERATOR TO THE MARKET IN QUESTION OR THE POSTING OF AN ECONOMIC OPERATOR, OR WHICH, THE DETECTED CONDUCT MAY CAUSE DAMAGE TO THIRD PARTIES OR DAMAGES TO PUBLIC OR COLLECTIVE INTERESTS. (1)
Art. 42.-Any person, in the case of the anticompetitive practices referred to in the law, may denounce in writing before the Superintendent the alleged person responsible indicating in which that practice consists.
The complainant shall express in its denunciation of the facts that make up anti-competitive practices.
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Art. 43.-The instruction of the procedure shall be ordered by means of a reasoned decision, stating the following:
a) The official who orders the instruction with place and date of resolution;
b) Appointment of the instructor the procedure to be performed by delegation and the secretary of action which shall also have the powers of the notifier;
c) Exposure of the facts justifying the investigation, the class of infringement which is constituted and the (d
Indication of the right of view of the proceedingsto invoke and invoke the laws and other legal motivations that justify the actions of the alleged infringer, to provide evidence of discharge, to make use of the hearing and of the other guarantees that make up the due legal process.
Art. 44.-The Superintendent, in the exercise of his or her privileges, may require the relevant reports or documentation to carry out his or her investigations, as well as to quote those who are related to the cases in question.
Superintendent will be able to carry out the necessary investigations for the proper application of this Law. In the course of the inspections, he may examine, order compulsories or carry out extracts from books, documents, including books of an accounting character, and if necessary to retain them for a maximum period of 10 days. In its inspections, it may be accompanied by experts in the matters in which the investigations are concerned.
WHEN RECORDS OR SEARCHES ARE DEALT WITH, IN THE REQUEST MADE TO THE JUDGE, THE SUPERINTENDENT MUST INCORPORATE, AMONG OTHERS, THE FOLLOWING ELEMENTS:
(a) THE OBJECT OF THE PROCEDURE IN WHICH THE REQUESTED DILIGENCE WOULD BE DEVELOPED;
(b) THE INDICATION OF THE PERSONS WHO WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE SEARCH OR SEARCH;
(c) THE ADDRESS OF THE REAL ESTATE OR PROPERTY WHERE THE DILIGENCE WILL BE PERFORMED;
d) THE DATE AND TIME AT WHICH THE SAME WILL BE MADE;
e) EVIDENCE TO BE OBTAINED THROUGH DILIGENCE;
f) THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE EVIDENCE TO BE SOUGHT WITH THE SUBJECT MATTER OF THE PROCEDURE;
g) THE REASONS JUSTIFYING THE REGISTRATION OR RAID IS THE IDEAL AND NECESSARY MEANS TO COLLECT THE EVIDENCE. (1)
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THE JUDGE MUST RESOLVE THE REQUEST AND NOTIFY THE SUPERINTENDENT OF THE ORDER OF REGISTRATION OR RAID GRANTED WITHIN TWENTY-FOUR HOURS OF THE FILING OF THE APPLICATION. (1)
THE EXECUTION OF THE SEARCH OR SEARCH SHALL BE CARRIED OUT BY THE SUPERINTENDENT AND/OR THE PERSONS AUTHORIZED FOR THAT PURPOSE, WHO MAY BE ASSISTED BY THE PUBLIC FORCE. THE DILIGENCE SHALL START IN WORKING HOURS. (1)
Art. 45.-The resolution ordering the investigation shall be notified to the alleged infringer, observing the formalities established by Art. 220, third indent of the Code of Civil Procedures. In the act of notification, the alleged infringer shall be given a copy of the minutes which the effect is lifted and the previous proceedings, if any. In the case of a complaint, the same copy of the complaint will also be given to you.
The alleged infringer will have a period of thirty days, to count on the notification referred to in the previous paragraph to provide the allegations, documents and information that they deem appropriate and will propose the means of proof of which they intend to assert and will point out the facts that they intend to prove.
The period of the allegations will be opened to tests the procedure for the period of twenty business days.
The test will be evaluated according to the rules of healthy criticism.
Once integrated the file, the Superintendent must complete its investigations and send the same to the Board of Directors, which must issue a resolution within a period not greater than twelve months from the beginning of the investigation or the denunciation; this period may be extended by a reasoned decision of the Council, up to a period of not more than 12 months and only once, where circumstances warrant it.
Art. 46.-All resolutions issued by the Superintendence in which rights are affected, sanctions are imposed or are imposed on investigations or suspensions of investigation, must be issued in a reasoned manner.
Superintendence considers the occurrence of a new modality of prohibited practices which are against competition, other than those set out in Title III of the Anti-competitive Practices of this Law, to sufficiently motivate the (a) a decision and in a special manner must be entered in the same, as appropriate, the degree of incidence or the severity of the breach, the damage caused, the effect on third parties, the duration of the anti-competitive practice, the market dimensions or the recidivism.
Art. 47.-The Superintendent may declare without place those complaints that are notoriously improper, when situations that are invoked do not constitute violations of this law.
Art. 48.-The act that definitively resolves the procedure will admit review appeal, filed in time and form, and in the same appeal all the illegal procedures can be alleged.
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Such an appeal must be filed in writing before the Superintendence Board of Directors within five working days from the day following that of the notification. If no recourse has been made after that period, the decision by which the act was issued shall be final.
The appeal shall be resolved within a maximum of 10 working days after its admission.
review appeal will be optional for the purposes of the administrative litigation.
In the document of appeal, the appellant must point out within the urban radius of San Salvador, place to receive notifications and other measures.
Art. 49.-If the resource is not presented in time and form, it shall be declared inadmissible by reasoned resolution, against which there shall be no recourse.
TITLE V SINGLE CHAPTER
FINAL, TRANSITIONAL, REPEAL AND VALIDITY
Art. 50.-All government agencies and other authorities in general, as well as any person are obliged to give the necessary support and collaboration to the Superintendence, providing all kinds of information and documentation required in the investigation for the violation of the precepts of this Law.
Art. 51.-The Superintendence should collect and publish the text of its final resolutions in order to create a record.
Art. 52. The actions and rights conferred by this Law will expire in five years.
Art. 53.-The President of the Republic shall issue the necessary Regulations within 90 days of the entry into force of this Law.
Art. 54.-As not provided for in this Law, it shall be subject to the provisions of the common law.
Art. 55.-The proceedings initiated before the various authorities with powers to elucidate matters related to the purpose of this Law, before the entry into force of this Law, shall be dealt with in accordance with the substantive and procedural rules
Art. 56.- The provisions of this Law, for its specialty, shall prevail over any other that, in general or special, regulate the same matter. For your repeal or modification you should be expressly mentioned.
Art. 57.-Defeat the following provisions:
(a) Articles 489, 490 and Article 491 of the Trade Code;
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(b) Article 232 of the Criminal Code;
c) Articles 7 numeral 20); 10 numeral 15); 13 numeral 22); 194 subsection 2º; 212 and 248 of the Port Maritime General Law and any provisions contained in the aforementioned law that are contrary to the present;
d) Articles 7 numerals 11) and 13); 11 numeral 8); 14 numeral 47); 21 First subparagraph; 22; 77; 89 (first); 90 and 218 of the Civil Aviation Organic Law and any provision contained in the aforementioned law;
e) Articles 3 literals (b), (d) and (g); 105-bis and 106 (2) of the Law General of Electricity, and any provision contained in that law that would be contrary to the present;
f) Art. 111 of the Telecommunications Act and any provision contained in the law that would be contrary to the present law;
g) Article 8 of the Regulatory Law on the Deposit, Transportation and Distribution of Petroleum Products and any the provision contained in the law that would be contrary to the present law.
The provisions of equal or lower hierarchy shall also be repealed as opposed to the provisions of this law.
Art. 58.-This Decree shall enter into force on 1 January 2006, after publication in the Official Journal.
GIVEN IN THE LEGISLATIVE PALACE: San Salvador, at the twenty-sixth of November of two thousand four.
CIRO CRUZ ZEPEDA PEÑA, PRESIDENT.
JOSÉ MANUEL MELGAR HENRIQUEZ, JOSÉ FRANCISCO MERINO LÓPEZ, FIRST VICE PRESIDENT. THIRD VICE-PRESIDENT.
MARTA LILIAN COTO VDA. DE CUELLAR, JOSE ANTONIO ALMENDARIZ RIVAS, FIRST SECRETARY. THIRD SECRETARY.
ELVIA VIOLETA MENJIVAR, FOURTH SECRETARY.
CASA PRESIDENTIAL: San Salvador, at the twenty-two days of December of the year two thousand four.
PUBESCOESE,
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ELIAS ANTONIO SACA GONZALEZ, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC.
Yolanda Eugenia Mayora de Gavidia, Minister of Economy.
D. O. No. 240 Took No. 365 Date: December 23, 2004
REFORM:
(1) D.L. No. 436, OCTOBER 18, 2007; D.O. No. 204, T. 377, 1/OF NOVEMBER 2007.
LM/adar
CGC/ngcl 30/11/07
