The Competition Protection Department
The Competition Protection Department is responsible for:
- Implementing policies promoting competition and preventing monopolistic practices.
- Providing data and information on economic and commercial activities.
- Raising awareness of the importance of fair competition and preventing monopolistic practices in collaboration with relevant international authorities.
- Supervising notifications related to transfer of property rights and ownership of assets, the establishment of mergers and acquisitions, assessing their impact on competition and proposing necessary actions.
- Investigating and reporting all anti-competitive practices.
- Researching Qatar’s market functions in different economic sectors and promoting competition, reducing monopolistic practices in collaboration with relevant authorities.
Sections:
- The Screening and Follow-up Complaints Competition Section.
- The Competition Studies and Research Section.
- The Merger Control and Inspection Exceptions Section.
1. The Screening and Follow-up Complaints Competition Section is responsible for:
- Conducting inspections, investigating market irregularities, and issuing reports with appropriate recommendations.
- Examining indicators in breach of competitive practices and collaborating with the committee charged with preventing monopolistic practices.
- Monitoring the market and collecting evidence of irregularities.
- Implementing and reporting on improvements of irregularities in collaboration with the relevant authorities.
2. The Competition Studies and Research Section is responsible for:
- Conducting studies and obtaining data on the market functions, activities and economic sectors related to the competitiveness in collaboration with authorities.
- Developing proposals and recommendations in collaboration with authorities to enhance competitiveness.
- Developing training courses, scientific forums and workshops related to the protection of laws that promote competition and prevention of monopolistic practices.
- Monthly and annual reports on managerial activities and future plans of various departments.
- Providing insights on market competition issues (i.e. how legislation protects competition and prevents monopolistic practices).
- Engaging with and educating employees in collaboration with international organisations to learn from industry leaders and prevent anti-competitive practices
3. The Merger Control and Inspection Exceptions Section is responsible for:
- Verifying notifications of ownership assets, unions or mergers between two moral persons; managing and evaluating market effects on competition; and providing recommendations for improvement.
- Verifying exceptions during tendering processes (i.e. scope of exclusions, competition) and making policy recommendations.
- Monitoring the implementation of the Commission’s decisions regarding market control activities such as assets ownership, unions or mergers between two moral persons
- Collaborating with the relevant authorities to implement merger control processes.
- Monitoring mergers that haven’t been approved by the Committee and proposing necessary action.
