1.-(1) This Order may be cited as the Anti-Competitive Practices (Exclusions) (Amendment) Order 1994 and shall come into force two months after the day on which it is made.

(2) In this Order, "the Act" means the Competition Act 1980.

(3) This Order shall not apply to any case in which, before the date on which this Order comes into force, notice under section 3(2)(a) of the Act has been given to the person in respect of whose course of conduct the question of whether it is excluded has arisen.

2. For paragraph (b) of Article 2 of the Anti-Competitive Practices (Exclusions) Order 1980(2) (which excludes courses of conduct of persons by reference to turnover and market share) there shall be substituted-

"(b)the course of conduct of a person (not being a local authority within the meaning of section 2(8) of the Act)-

(i)whose relevant annual turnover in the United Kingdom is less than £10 million and who is not a member of a group of interconnected bodies corporate which has an aggregate annual turnover in the United Kingdom of £10 million or more, or

(ii)who enjoys less than one quarter of a relevant market and who is not a member of a group of interconnected bodies corporate which enjoys one quarter or more of a relevant market;".

3. Article 3 of the 1980 Order shall be amended-

(a)in paragraph (b), by the substitution of "£10 million" for "£5 million";

(b)in the proviso following paragraph (e), by the substitution of "Article 2(b)" for "Article 2(b)(iii)".

4. Schedule 2 to the 1980 Order shall be amended-

(a)in paragraph 4, by the substitution of "Article 2(b)" for "Article 2(b)(iii)";

(b)in paragraph 5, by the substitution of "Article 2(b)(i)" for "Article 2(b)(iii)";

(c)in paragraph 6, by the substitution of "Article 2(b)(ii)" for "Article 2(b)(iii)".

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order amends the Anti-Competitive Practices (Exclusions) Order 1980. That Order excludes from being an anti-competitive practice under the Competition Act 1980 the course of conduct of any person (not being a local authority) whose turnover in the United Kingdom is less than £5 million, whose share of the relevant market is less than one quarter, and which is not a member of a group of interconnected bodies corporate with an annual turnover in the United Kingdom of £5 million or more or which enjoys more than one quarter of the relevant market.

The effect of the amendment is to increase the turnover threshold to £10 million and to provide that the conduct of a person who satisfies either the turnover test or the market share test will be excluded from the 1980 Act. Thus the conduct of a person will not be capable of being an anti-competitive practice under the 1980 Act if his turnover (combined with that of others in the same group if he is a member of a group of interconnected bodies corporate) is less than £10 million. The conduct of a person who enjoys less than one quarter of the relevant market will also be excluded unless he is a member of a group of interconnected bodies corporate which enjoys one quarter or more of a relevant market.