Agreements to Reduce Capacity (BIDS)

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N-11-001 Notice on Agreements to Reduce Capacity.pdf (593.582 kb)

In January 2011, the Competition Authority reached a settlement in its long-running proceedings against the Beef Industry Development Society (the BIDS case).

This settlement was reached at a time when the BIDS case had been referred back to the High Court by the Supreme Court after the European Court of Justice had decided that an agreement between competitors to reduce capacity in the Irish beef processing industry was prohibited by Article 101(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

As a result of this settlement, the Beef Industry Development Society Ltd withdrew its High Court proceedings whereby it was seeking to claim that the BIDS agreement satisfied all four conditions under Article 101(3) TFEU.

This Guidance Notice reflects the substance of the decisions of the various courts involved in the BIDS case and provides guidance on the application of section 4 of the Competition Act 2002 and/or Article 101 TFEU to businesses considering entering into agreements or any form of co-ordination to reduce capacity in specific industries in Ireland.

The Competition Authority - www.tca.ie

Agreements to Reduce Capacity (BIDS)

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