On March 31^st, the Mexican Federal Economic Competition Commission (COFECE, as per its acronym in Spanish) through the Official Federal Gazette, published the initiation of an investigation to determine the existence of barriers to the competition and free access in the e-commerce retail market.

Such market is integrated by the purchase and sale of merchandise on the internet, through a method of receiving or posting orders, whose growth in Mexico has increased considerably during the last couple of years, due to the pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus.

By means of the agreement published by COFECE’s Investigation Authority under the file number IEBC-001-2022, the aforementioned Commission stated it has identified evidence that indicates the absence of effective competition conditions in such market. You can find an extract of such an agreement here.

This file is especially relevant, since it is the first time COFECE has initiated an investigation related to digital markets. 

Our antitrust and administrative litigation team has extensive experience supporting clients involved in governmental actions in antitrust proceedings and administrative litigation. We remain at your service to assist you in relation to the legal alternatives that may best protect your commercial interests.

This note was prepared by José Antonio Postigo-Uribe ([email protected]), Mauricio A. León-Alvarado ([email protected]), José Miguel Ortiz-Otero ([email protected]), Marisol González-Echevarría ([email protected])  Marisa Romero-Martínez ([email protected]) and Paulina Doen-Castillo ([email protected]).