On April 29, 2014, the Mexican Congress approved reforms to the federal competition law. The bill, which was introduced in February and was approved previously by the Mexican Senate, aims to increase market efficiency and national productivity through the promotion of investment and increasing the availability of goods and services offered to Mexican consumers.

The reforms can be categorized into three sections that focus on the function and organization of the Mexican competition authorities, in matters related to anticompetitive conduct, and on procedural changes. In the first category, the reforms clarify the responsibilities that have been divided between the Mexican Federal Economic Competition Commission (COFECE) and the Mexican telecom regulator. In addition, they improve the transparency and accountability attributions of the COFECE and create an internal monitoring system. In the second category, the law reaffirms certain types of antitrust breaches and sanctions new types of monopolistic practices that involve limiting access to an essential input or abuse of a dominant market position. In the third category, the reforms aim to reduce the length of the proceedings held at the competition authority. Moreover, the bill provides the COFECE with a broader mandate to conduct industry examinations and provides the agency with the authority to prohibit anticompetitive conducts ex-officio, to compel access to essential inputs required for the provision of goods and services of economic agents, as well as to require companies to divest assets.

While many of the reforms are structural in nature and present minor changes, there has been concern about the new mandates granted to the competition agency, especially in relation to its investigative powers. This concern refers to the broad language included in the bill that enables the COFECE to investigate sectors where there are “barriers to competition.” The original proposal of the bill did not provide a clear definition to this term. Nonetheless, the revisions to the initiative introduced additional procedural protections to companies under market investigations. Some of these protections include the ability of companies to propose their own remedies. However, implementing such remedies still remains at the discretion of the competition agency.

Once enacted and published by President Pena Nieto, the bill will come into force and will hopefully provide greater market efficiency and enhance national productivity.