Operator Commitment System Research

As an informal law enforcement system for anti-monopoly enforcement,the operator commitment system refers to the anti-monopoly law enforcement agencies in the investigation of suspected monopoly cases,the investigation of the operators to the anti-monopoly law enforcement agencies to suspend monopolistic behavior and within a certain period of time to eliminate adverse effects of commitment,the Anti-Monopoly Enforcement Authority shall accept the commitment and suspend the investigation,If the investigated operator faithfully fulfills the commitment,the antitrust investigation is terminated and the investigated operator is exempted from punishment,otherwise the anti-monopoly law enforcement agency immediately restores its investigation to the system.The operator commitment system originated in the United States.Compared with traditional anti-monopoly law enforcement,the system has a great advantage in saving the cost and improving the efficiency of law enforcement.China formally introducing the operator commitment system by article 45 in The Anti-monopoly Law of China(2008).The article provision the content of operator commitment system.The content is too general so in judicial practice it is impossible to operate.Compare with other relevant system in antitrust law,the special promise of the operator commitment system are that the starting method is diverse,the operator commitment system is the common behavior of both parties,and the operator commitment system is not mandatory.At present,the relevant legislative contents of China’s undertakings system build the basic framework of the operator commitment system.However,there are no specific regulations and restrictions on the actual operation of the system in the anti-monopoly law enforcement.The specific shortcomings are that the application scope and application conditions are unclear and the starting method is single,lacking the public interest and stakeholder protection mechanism.And the lack of severe punishment mechanism.The paper puts forward the following proposals for perfect.At program startup phase,qualified suitable scope and applicable condition,enlarge startup subject;in negotiation phase,set up notice and hearing procedure,set up the interested party security system;in performance and supervision stage,establish the punishment mechanism of violating the promises and improve the supervision of commitment.