Cartels Involving Intermediate Goods

Cartels in intermediate goods (such as goods used as inputs in the production of manufactured goods for final consumers) can be found in all countries and across a broad range of sectors.

In October 2015, the OECD held a roundtable which explored cartels in intermediate goods, their differences to cartels in final consumer goods, as well as challenges faced by countries with respect to their prevention, detection, legal and jurisdictional requirements for enforcement, sanctions and compensation to victims.

This page contains all related materials.

• Cartels involving intermediate goods are increasingly in the radar of competition authorities. They may have specific features that differentiate them from cartels concerning final consumer goods.
• Cartels involving intermediate goods can often raise complex enforcement issues such as establishing jurisdiction, finding evidence and calculating fines.
• Most competition authorities look at domestic cartel effects in order to establish jurisdiction, and take action when harm to domestic consumers is established.
• There is a risk of double jeopardy or over-penalisation of the cartel behaviour in the case of parallel enforcement actions by more than one competition authority. Competition authorities may take into account enforcement activities by other competition authorities.

For more, read the key findings or the detailed summary of the discussion.

Executive summary with key findings | Synthèse avec points clés de la discussion

Detailed summary of the discussion | Compte rendu détaillé

OECD note | Note de référence de l'OCDE