Mexico City, December 1, 2022.
The Federal Economic Competition Commission ("COFECE"), published on November 30, 2022, the initiation of an investigation to determine whether effective competition conditions exist in the market for maritime transportation services of passengers and roll-on/roll-off cargo, as well as 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, maritime transport of roll-on/roll-off cargo and passengers is key to mobilize goods and people, to and from said State, and that in 2021 alone, more than 11 million tons of cargo and more than 198 thousand passengers were transported by sea in cabotage traffic, to or from the ports located in said entity.
The procedure to resolve on the existence of conditions of effective competition in a market takes place when the laws or sectorial regulations expressly provide that the COFECE resolves or gives 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 make use of other investigative tools. Likewise, COFECE is open to receive information from any person interested in cooperating with the investigation.
