Anti-Competitive Agreement

Section 2 of the Competition Act 1998 prohibits agreements between undertakings, decisions by associations of undertakings or concerted practices which have as their object or effect the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition within the United Kingdom, where they may affect trade in the United Kingdom (for agreements implemented or intended to be implemented in the UK) or are likely to have an immediate, substantial and foreseeable effect on UK trade in other cases. Such agreements, decisions, or practices are prohibited unless they are exempt in accordance with the provisions of this Part, and this rule is referred to in the Act as the Chapter I prohibition.

The prohibition applies in particular to arrangements which directly or indirectly fix purchase or selling prices or other trading conditions, limit or control production, markets, technical development or investment, share markets or sources of supply, apply dissimilar conditions to equivalent transactions so as to place a party at a competitive disadvantage, or tie the conclusion of contracts to unrelated supplementary obligations. Any agreement or decision which is prohibited by the Chapter I prohibition is void, and the prohibition covers not only formal agreements but decisions by trade associations and informal concerted practices between competitors.