About us
The Law on Competition, adopted in 2001, established the Council of Competition as an independent and independent body with the status of a legal entity on May 1, 2004, with its headquarters in Sarajevo. The Council of Competition has the exclusive authority to decide on the existence of prohibited competitive activity on the market of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
This Law regulates competition policy for the first time as one of the most important instruments and pillars for the creation and strengthening of a single economic space, i.e. market, in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Alignment with the Acquis
Natural and legal persons
It applies to all legal and natural persons who may prevent, limit or distort market competition through their actions.
Administrative bodies
It is applied to state administration and local self-government bodies, when they directly or indirectly participate in or influence the market;
Commercial companies
It applies to companies, enterprises and entrepreneurs and their associations, regardless of the form of ownership, seat or residence;
Associations
It applies to other physical and legal entities: associations, sports organizations, institutions, cooperatives, holders of intellectual property rights.
Jurisdictions
The law applies to all forms of preventing, limiting or disrupting market competition on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina or outside its territory if they have an effect on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Special attention is focused on agreements between economic entities, dominant position and abuses of dominant position, rules and procedures related to competition between economic entities.
With the new Law, the competences of the Council of Competition have been expanded and more precisely defined in the performance of administrative and professional tasks related to various aspects of the protection of market competition. This also applies to the way the procedure is conducted, final decisions are made, the policy of penalties and the duration of the procedure.
Since the Law regulated some issues and concepts in principle, those issues were defined in more detail by adopting a series of by-laws – Decision on determining the relevant market; Decision on determination of small value agreements; Decision on the collective exemption of agreements between economic entities operating at different levels of production or distribution; Decision on the collective exemption of agreements between economic entities operating at the same level of production or distribution (horizontal agreements); Decision on the collective exemption of agreements on the transfer of technology, licenses and know-how; Decision on collective exemption of insurance agreements; Decision on distribution and servicing of motor vehicles; Decision on the procedure for mitigating or exempting from punishment (lienency policy); Decision on determining the categories of the ruling position; Decision on the amount of administrative fees related to procedural actions before the Council of Competition and Decision on periodic payment of fines;
With the adoption of the mentioned by-laws (all acts will be adopted by the end of the third month of 2006), to a large extent BiH legislation in this area will be adapted to the legal acquis of the Community (aquies). Also, the adoption of by-laws will ensure predictability and transparent implementation of certain procedural actions and the entire procedure before the Council of Competition