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Hard core cartels are the most egregious violations of competition law. They injure consumers in many countries by raising prices and restricting supply, thus making goods and services completely unavailable to some purchasers and unnecessarily expensive for others.

Effective action against hard core cartels is particularly important from an international perspective -- because their distortion of world trade creates market power, waste, and inefficiency in countries whose markets would otherwise be competitive -- and particularly dependent upon co-operation -- because they generally operate in secret, and relevant evidence may be located in many different countries.

Adopted on 25 March 1998, this Recommendation advises member countries to ensure that their competition laws effectively halt and deter hard core cartels by providing for effective sanctions and adequate enforcement procedures and institutions to detect and remedy hard core cartels.

Non member countries are invited to associate themselves with this Recommendation and to implement it.

Documents and links

• Text of the Recommendation concerning Effective Action against Hard Core Cartels - database of OECD Acts
   
• Best Practices for the Formal Exchange of Information Between Competition Authorities in Hard Core Investigations (2005)