On 21 September the Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA) issued
new market definition guidelines. The guidelines are intended to
provide guidance to businesses on how to define the relevant
markets for the purposes of competition law analysis. With the new
guidelines the ECA sought to align the authority's practice
with internationally recognized standards. They also seek to
address changes in the economy, including the growing importance of
digital markets and globalization.
The guidelines are (in part) designed for readers who have
limited experience with competition law and do explain basic
concepts such as that markets will be defined by (1) relevant
product or service, and (2) geographical scope. However, the
guidelines also provides guidance on more practice issues that can
arise in market definition, such as: (1) how to deal with new and
innovative products and services, (2) distinctions of products and
services by quality, brand, or similar factors, (3)
