ABSTRACT
Article 177(1)(a) RTC prohibits, as being anti-competitive, any agreement between enterprises, any decision of associations of enterprises and any concerted practice by enterprises that has as its object or effect restriction of competition within the Community. In order to be within the prohibition, any arrangement within the scope of Article 177(1)(a) RTC must have appreciable cross-border effect (see Chapter 5 ). Article 177(2) RTC provides some examples of the types of prohibited arrangements set out in Article 177(1)(a) RTC. Under Article 177(3) RTC, any prohibited agreement or decision is null and void (see Chapter 9 , section 9.7.1.4D); concerted practices are not mentioned, because they are informal arrangements and therefore cannot be rendered void. However, arrangements that fall within the scope of Article 177(1)(a) RTC may escape the prohibition if they meet the criteria set out in Article 177(4) RTC. This occurs
when some form of collaboration between enterprises may have overall benefi cial effects that prevail over the restrictions that they impose on competition. Further, what would otherwise be prohibited arrangements may escape the prohibition set out in Article 177(1)(a) RTC if they are within the scope of the de minimis rule (see Chapter 5 , section 5.3.2) or are exempted by the CARICOM Competition Commission (CCC) under Article 180 RTC (see Chapter 9 , section 9.7.2.1) or by the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) under Article 183 RTC (see Chapter 3 , section 3.2.1).
