The current COVID-19 pandemic is threatening the health and economic well-being of citizens across the globe and creating unprecedented difficulties and challenges for businesses. Some businesses have been forced to close temporarily or are facing dramatic reductions in business revenue and a risk of failure. Others are reworking their production lines to boost the manufacture of scarce products. Yet others are managing exceptional levels of demand and having to ensure security of supply of essential goods and services at the same time as coping with a dispersed work-force or high levels of staff absences. In order to deal with these problems, many firms are cooperating, or are contemplating cooperation, with rivals and competition agencies are being called upon to offer crucial guidance on the application of antitrust laws to such practices. Both the US federal antitrust authorities, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (see Joint Statement, 24 March 2020), and the European Commission (see Temporary Framework Communication, 8 April 2020) have stated that, exceptionally, they will offer rapid guidance to businesses seeking clarification as to the compatibility of COVID-19-related business cooperation with competition law. Broadly, in line with similar announcements made by other authorities, these agencies have made it clear that collaborative activities between manufacturers, distributors, or purchasers (such as research and development, technical know-how or asset-sharing arrangements, information exchanges, joint production, transportation, storage, or purchasing agreements) may be compatible with competition rules where:

中文翻译：

---

COVID-19 时代的卡特尔

当前的 COVID-19 大流行正在威胁全球公民的健康和经济福祉，并给企业带来前所未有的困难和挑战。一些企业被迫暂时关闭或面临业务收入急剧减少和失败的风险。其他人正在改造他们的生产线，以促进稀缺产品的制造。还有一些人正在管理异常水平的需求，在应对分散的劳动力或大量员工缺勤的同时，必须确保基本商品和服务的供应安全。为了解决这些问题，许多公司正在或正在考虑与竞争对手合作，竞争管理机构被要求为将反垄断法应用于此类实践提供重要指导。美国联邦反垄断机构、司法部 (DOJ) 和联邦贸易委员会 (FTC)（参见联合声明，2020 年 3 月 24 日）以及欧盟委员会（参见临时框架通讯，2020 年 4 月 8 日）均表示，作为例外，它们将为寻求澄清与 COVID-19 相关的商业合作与竞争法的兼容性的企业提供快速指导。大体上，与其他当局发布的类似公告一致，这些机构已经明确表示，制造商、分销商或购买者之间的合作活动（例如研发、技术诀窍或资产共享安排、信息交流、联合生产、运输、储存或采购协议）可能与竞争规则兼容，其中：