Draft immunity and cooperation policy and FAQs

Overview

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) commenced a review of its Immunity Policy for Cartel Conduct July 2009 in March 2013 and released a public discussion paper in September 2013.

Taking into consideration the feedback received during consultation, the ACCC has released its draft Immunity and Cooperation Policy for Cartel Conduct April 2014 (draft ICP) and draft Frequently Asked Questions (draft FAQs) for public comment.

 The ACCC’s draft ICP includes a number of changes, including:

• utilising a letter of comfort from the CDPP to streamline the processes of granting civil and criminal immunity
• removal of the term ‘clear leader’ (‘coercion’ remains a disqualifying criteria)
• clarification of how cooperation by second and subsequent parties to the cartel will be assessed by the ACCC (consolidation of the immunity and cooperation policies in the one cartel policy document), and
• updating the language of the policy to reflect legislative changes since the last policy was released.