CMA wins appeal within end-of-life vehicle case

In March 2022, the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) began investigating “suspected anti-competitive conduct” in relation to the recycling of old or written-off vehicles, known as ‘end-of-life vehicles’ or ELVs.
On 17 January 2024, in a unanimous judgment, the Court of Appeal has confirmed that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has the power to require overseas companies to produce documents and information when it is investigating suspected anti-competitive conduct.
In December 2022, the CMA imposed a fixed penalty of £30,000 and a daily penalty of £15,000 on BMW AG for failing to comply with an information request issued as part of a competition law investigation involving the car manufacturer.
The Court of Appeal stated that the CMA’s ability to conduct competition investigations would be compromised were it unable to obtain information from overseas, saying it would create “a perverse incentive for conspirators to move offshore to organise cartels directed at harming the United Kingdom market”.
5.5 and 10 million tyres are removed from scrap cars. If a quarter are reusable, as some calculations suggest, 1.375 to 2.5 million tyres could re-enter tyre markets this way.
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