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Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance

Briefings

The UK Vertical Agreements Block Exemption Order: Key Takeaways from the CMA Guidance

5 October 2022

On 12 July 2022, the CMA issued a guidance on the application of the Vertical Agreements Block Exemption Order which had come into force on 1 June 2022. The Guidance supersedes the European Commission’s Guidelines on Vertical Restraints and the CMA’s previous guidance on vertical agreements (OFT419).

We provide an overview of certain key areas now clarified by the CMA in the guidance, and identify areas where the CMA converges with, and diverges from, the European Commissions' new Vertical Block Exemption Regulation and Guidelines on Vertical Restraints.

The authors are Sabra Ferhat, Senior Associate, Deepaloke Chatterjee, Senior Associate and Nhi Nguyen, Associate, Clifford Chance LLP.

This article was first published by Thomson Reuters, trading as Sweet & Maxwell, 5 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5AQ in the European Competition Law Review as "The UK Vertical Agreements Block Exemption Order: key takeaways from the CMA guidance" in [E.C.L.R. 2022, 43(10) N-240-N242] and is reproduced by agreement with the publishers.

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