Agricultural Exceptions to Competition Law

Abstract

State’s policies for agricultural markets may vary significantly among jurisdictions. Interest groups exercise a great deal of pressure over State organisms, ranging from the Congress to the Executive agencies that regulate or survey these markets. Therefore, a special treatment awarded by the law or by Government’s policies for certain agricultural markets – e.g. legal exemptions and subsidies – is not infrequent. Antitrust laws and policies are not alien to these powerful tides, which often turn into special measures towards agricultural markets. Exemptions and exceptions on the enforcement of antitrust laws in these markets have been enacted in several countries due to historical, political, cultural and economic reasons.

The main objective of this document is to present agricultural exceptions to competition law from a theoretical and a comparative law approach. For this purpose, the document assesses the competition laws from the United States, European Union, Israel, Canada and several Latin American jurisdictions (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico) and its enforcement in agricultural markets.

Keywords: antitrust law, agricultural markets, public policies, and exceptions to competition law

JEL Classification: K21, L4, N5, Q18, Q13, N46, N66