Reporting Period  January 02–March 02: Enforcement Policy & Legislative Developments

Competition Act.

• Direct Sanctions.
The FCC should be entitled to impose (administrative) fines on undertakings, which can reach up to 10 % of the turnover achieved in Switzerland during the last three financial years, in case of participation in "hardcore" cartels (price fixing, customer or market sharing) and abuse of dominant position (see also 2000/3 and 2001/1 reports). In its report on the draft law, the Swiss Federal Council reiterated the opinion according to which fault is not a condition for imposing sanctions; this is in contradiction with the arguments developed by the Appeal Commission in its latest decision in the Merial case (see Administrative and judicial decisions hereinafter). Further, a system of preliminary notification of possibly unlawful agreements and practices is provided for in order to permit undertakings