Section 19 - Inquiry into certain agreements and dominant position of enter­prise

Assessment of dominant position and market definition guides inquiries into anticompetitive agreements and conduct.

The Commission may inquire into alleged contraventions of prohibitions on agreements and abuse of dominant position on its own motion, on receipt of information with prescribed fee, or by government or statutory reference, subject to a three year limitation unless delay is condoned. Inquiries apply evaluative criteria for whether an agreement has an appreciable adverse effect on competition-including entry barriers, competitor elimination, consumer effects, efficiencies and developmental promotion-and criteria for dominant position-including market share, size and resources, competitors' strength, economic power, vertical integration, consumer dependence, entry barriers, countervailing power, market structure, social costs and contributions to economic development. Relevant market definition requires assessment of both geographic and product market factors such as regulatory barriers, distribution, transport costs, consumer preferences, switching costs, physical characteristics, price, specialised producers and customer categories.