The Competition Act 1998 (Application for Designation of Professional Rules) Regulations 1999

Statutory Instruments

1999 No. 2546

COMPETITION

The Competition Act 1998 (Application for Designation of Professional Rules) Regulations 1999

Made

9th September 1999

Laid before Parliament

10th September 1999

Coming into force

1st October 1999

The Secretary of State in exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections 59(1) and 71 of, and paragraph 3(2)(b) of Schedule 4 to, the Competition Act 1998(1) (“the Act”) hereby makes the following Regulations:

Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Competition Act 1998 (Application for Designation of Professional Rules) Regulations 1999 and shall come into force on 1st October 1999.

Applications for designation

2.  An application for designation of the rules of a body regulating a professional service or the persons who provide or wish to provide that service shall be made in writing to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET accompanied by a copy of the rules to which the application relates.

3.  The application shall state:

(a) the name of the applicant body;

(b) to which type of professional service listed in Part II of Schedule 4 of the Act the rules relate;

(c) the date on which the rules and any amendments which they include were adopted; and

(d) an address and telephone number for correspondence.

4.  The application shall be signed by an officer of the body who shall certify that he is authorised by the body to make the application on its behalf.

Alan Johnson,

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Competitiveness,

Department of Trade and Industry

9th September 1999

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

Section 2 of the Competition Act 1998 prohibits agreements between undertakings, decisions by associations of undertakings and concerted practices which prevent restrict or distort competition (“the Chapter I prohibition”). Paragraph 1 of Schedule 4 excludes from the Chapter I prohibition designated professional rules and compliance with those rules. These Regulations provide for the manner in which applications are to be made to the Secretary of State for professional rules to be designated.

(1)

1998 c. 41.