The Ministry of Economy reversed a resolution of the Commission for the Promotion and Defense of Competition that conferred relevance to a complaint of Montecon vs. Katoen Natie for anti-competitive practices in the port of Montevideo. Taking the complaint as valid, the commission had initiated an investigation against the company.
The complaint from Montecon, which operates containers in the public areas of the port of Montevideo, was presented in September of last year before the Commission for the Promotion and Defense of Competition, a decentralized body of the MEF. The action was against the Ministry of Transportation, the National Ports Administration (ANP), Katoen Natie and Terminal Cuenca del Plata (specialized in containers, majority owned by the Belgian company). It was based on the extension of the concession granted by the government to Katoen Natie for Terminal Cuenca del Plata.
In January of this year, the MEF had already revoked the commission’s decision to advance the investigation. However, on February 1, the Defense of Competition ruled again that the complaint was pertinent and continued with the case without taking into account the ministerial refusal. But for the second time he received a revocation from the MEF.
In a resolution dated September 2, which was accessed by El Observador, the ministry stated that Law 18,159 (Defense of free competition in trade) establishes as a general principle that all The markets will be governed by the principles and rules of free competition, except for the limitations established by law, for reasons of general interest..
He indicated that in the case (Montecon’s complaint and the commission’s action) “it is considered that the port exploitation regime is subject to a special regulation, not being the competence of the Commission for the Promotion and Defense of Competition its treatment”.
It also stated that Law 16,246 of 1992 provides that “The Executive Branch is responsible for establishing port policy and controlling its executionthat is to say, that the one who determines the port policy is the Executive Power, given that the port activity is an activity of general interest that is related to the economic development of the country”.
In another article he added that “taking into account the subject matter of Montecon’s complaint, which refers in summary to the design of the port policy and the exploitation of port services, the Commission for the Defense of Competition is not competent to process the same”.
With these and other considerations, the Ministry of Economy revoked the resolution of February 1, 2022, issued by the commission.
The complaint filed by Montecon had indicated that the extension of the concession granted by the Executive Power to Katoen Natie for Terminal Cuenca del Plata limited and restricted the technological development of container loading and unloading services in the port of Montevideo to the detriment of competitors from Terminal Cuenca del Plata. Also that the contract between the Executive Power and Katoen Natie constituted a kind of collusive agreement with the intention of excluding competitors from the market in favor of Terminal Cuenca del Plata.
