Mexico City, December 1st, 2022.
The Federal Economic Competition Commission (“COFECE” for its acronym in Spanish), published on November 30, 2022, the initiation of an investigation to determine if effective competition conditions exist in the maritime transportation services market for passengers and roll-on/roll-off cargo, as well as in cabotage navigation with origin or destination in Baja California Sur. Said investigation is identified with file number DC-001-2022.
Regarding this investigation, COFECE explained that, due to the geographical position of Baja California Sur, the maritime transportation of roll-on/roll-off cargo and passengers is key to mobilize goods and people, from and to such State, and that only in 2021 more than 11 million tons of cargo and more than 198 thousand passengers were transported by sea in cabotage traffic, from or to the ports located in such entity.
The procedure to resolve on the existence of effective competition conditions in a market takes place when the laws or sectorial regulations expressly provide that COFECE decides or provides its opinion on the matter. In the event that COFECE determines that conditions of effective competition do not exist, the corresponding authority, in this case the Secretary of the Navy, in accordance with the Maritime Navigation and Commerce Law, may implement regulations to eliminate the effects caused by the lack of competition.
In this investigation, COFECE may request written information both from regulators of the sector and from other economic agents that participate, or are related to such market, and may use other investigative tools. COFECE is also open to receive information from any person interested in cooperating with the investigation.
