Challenges for Competition Law during Prevalence of Covid-19

The emergence of Covid-19 disease has made a particular economicsituation which by its turn has affected competition in different markets.This research is going to analyze the approach of competition law in front ofcompetition challenges in the light of public interests and ensuring publichealth. In the present paper, the aspects of agreements, unilateral practices,concentrations, state aids and unilateral government interventions in thecompetition field are examined from the perspective of competition rules,regarding the particular situations imposed by Covid-19. This study revealsthat competition law allows a great deal of flexibility to ensure economicefficiency in a crisis and provides significant block and ad-hoc exemptions,but it has strengthened its surveillance and governance in particular healthmarkets and public essentials and commodities. Confronting unnecessarycollaboration of competitors, especially exchange of commercially sensitiveinformation, excessive pricing in pharmaceuticals and health products,prohibition of misleading statements about drugs or Covid-19 treatmentmethods, facilitating mergers between R&D undertakings or centers inhealth sector, regulating state aid to enterprises affected by the Covid-19crisis and the regulation of unilateral and direct government interventions incompetition is one of the important calls of competition law in the duringparticular period of time. Although it must be admitted that competition law isnot ready for facing up to all aspects of the Covid-19 crisis and balancingbetween protection of its fundamental values on one hand and safeguardingeconomic activities and assuring public health in the other hand. In Iranian law,this difficulty is more evident because our existing competition law has nosolution to the problem and, accordingly, the current rules needs revision.