Gabriela de Ávila Machado
Lawyer at Marcos Martins Advogados
On May 28, CADE (Administrative Council for Economic Defense) approved, in an extraordinary session, the order of its General Superintendence that authorized collaboration, until October 31, 2020, between competing companies, in order to minimize the effects of the crisis caused by the coronavirus (Covid-19).
According to the General Secretariat’s report, based on international recommendations, such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the International Competition Network (ICN), the exceptional nature of the situation was confirmed, as well as the urgency of adopting measures, providing plausible economic justification for the agreement. The report also considered that the companies involved had adopted antitrust risk prevention protocols and that there was “no evidence of an attempt to carry out an anti-competitive practice” and that there was, in fact, “concern on the part of the companies to re-establish competitiveness and normality in the sector”.
On May 29, CADE broadcast a webinar on its YouTube channel on “Cooperation between competitors, legislative changes and CADE’s role in times of crisis”. The event was attended by CADE’s president, Alexandre Barreto, the authority’s general superintendent, Alexandre Cordeiro, and professor and lawyer Amanda Flávio de Oliveira and is available for public access.
