On 4 April 2024, the Executive Regulation of the new Egyptian pre-merger control regime was officially published by Prime Minister Decree No. 1120 of 2024. The ER introduces the implementing regulations for the newly established pre-merger control regime issued by the Law number 175 of 2022 which empowers the Egyptian Competition Authority with significant powers in reviewing and approving transactions. The ER states that it will enter into force on 1 June 2024, i.e. transactions that close on or after 1 June 2024, and meet the prescribed thresholds, must obtain prior approval from the ECA.

The Egyptian Parliament has approved amendments to the Law number 3 of 2005 on the Protection of Competition and the Prohibition of Monopolistic Practices (ECL), introducing for the first time a mandatory pre-merger notification regime in Egypt. Until now, the ECL had only a post-merger notification system which did not give the Egyptian Competition Authority any powers to assess, approve or block a transaction. The amendments are expected to be published in the Official Gazette and enter into force during December 2022.

What has changed

On 16 July 2020, the Board of Directors of the National Food and Safety Authority (“NFSA”) issued a decision No. 6 for 2020 setting rules for regulating the importation of food in Egypt (the “Decision”). Before the issuance of this Decision, imported food was subject to the general standard requirements of importation license. However, this Decision prohibited any food facility or food importer, whether a natural person or a company to undertake any activity of food importation without obtaining the prior license from the NFSA.

What has changed

On 16 July 2020, the Board of Directors of the National Food and Safety Authority (“NFSA”) issued a decision No. 6 for 2020 setting rules for regulating the importation of food in Egypt (the “Decision”). Before the issuance of this Decision, imported food was subject to the general standard requirements of importation license. However, this Decision prohibited any food facility or food importer, whether a natural person or a company to undertake any activity of food importation without obtaining the prior license from the NFSA.

What’s changed The Egyptian Prime Minister has established a ministerial committee under the Intellectual Property Law No. 82/2002 (“IP Law”) for compulsory licensing. The compulsory licensing mechanism as set by the IP Law covers all sorts of patents in all sectors of the economy. The ministerial committee will (i) order…

What has changed Parties to a horizontal cooperation agreement and potentially parties to certain horizontal mergers or acquisitions may be required to obtain the prior approval of the Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA). On 29 December 2019, the ECA announced that it has conditionally cleared its first pre-merger notification under the…

Download publication Antitrust law in Africa is growing at a rapid rate with the introduction of laws and regulations, increase in memberships to regional antitrust bodies and ramped-up enforcement by domestic and regional regulators. Since the beginning of 2018, domestic competition legislation has been enacted in Angola and Nigeria, and…

Recent developments Following media reports that two multinational companies were in merger discussions, the Egyptian Competition Authority (“ECA”) has told the parties to seek prior ECA approval before entering into any agreement. Although the parties denied entering into any agreement with the intention to merge, the ECA informed them that…