Commercial collaborations, agreements and business practices may be subject to different assessments under competition law depending on their effects. This assessment requires determining whether a practice may restrict competition and, if so, which legal mechanism is applicable.
Under Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition, a negative clearance application may be made to establish that an agreement or commercial practice does not infringe competition law. Agreements and practices that may have restrictive effects may benefit from a block exemption or an individual exemption where the relevant conditions are met.
Each matter is assessed by considering the commercial purpose of the agreement or practice, the parties’ market positions, the structure of the relevant market and the potential effects on competition. This review determines whether a self-assessment is sufficient or whether an application before the Turkish Competition Authority should be pursued.
Key Areas Assessed in Exemption and Negative Clearance Processes
- Reviewing commercial practices and agreements from a competition law perspective
- Assessing the availability of negative clearance, block exemption and individual exemption
- Collecting the necessary information and documents and conducting legal and economic analyses
- Determining the application strategy and scope of the submission
- Preparing and submitting the application file to the Turkish Competition Authority
- Responding to information and document requests from the Authority
- Monitoring the process and the Turkish Competition Board’s decision