Cabinet Resolution No. 59 of 2026 · UAE Federal
The 33-article executive regulations of the Competition Law: indicators of dominance, the economic-concentration notification file, formal and substantive review stages and notices to the parties, exemption requests, objections, complaints and their examination, coordination between the Ministry and sector regulators, and settlement; it repeals Cabinet Resolution No. 37 of 2014 and applies three months after Gazette publication.
Cabinet Resolution No. 59 of 2026 is the executive regulation of the Competition Law, Federal Decree-Law No. 36 of 2023. It was issued on 20 April 2026 on the proposal of the Minister of Economy and Tourism, runs to 33 articles, and by Article 33 applies three months after its publication in the Official Gazette. Article 32 repeals Cabinet Resolution No. 37 of 2014, the regulation under the previous competition law. The official text is in Arabic only.
Articles 2 and 3 give the tests for abuse. Article 2 lists the indicators of a dominant position's power to harm the relevant market, such as technological superiority, business model, financial resources or geographic concentration that let an undertaking impose terms, while stating that an advantage gained from innovation or research is not in itself dominance. Article 3 sets the controls for predatory pricing.
Articles 4 to 9 govern exemptions from the prohibitions in Articles 5 to 8 of the Decree-Law. An undertaking notifies the agreement or practice in advance; the Ministry, concerned authority or sector regulator completes a formal check within 10 working days and then examines the request on the merits within 40 working days, extendable by 10, applying the efficiency factors in Article 6. The exemption decision states its conditions, start and end dates and geographic scope; an extension must be requested at least 3 months before expiry; and any plan to amend an exempted practice must be notified within 30 days.
Articles 10 to 18 set the merger-control procedure. Article 10 lists the notification file: constitutional documents, licences, the transaction agreement, audited financial statements for the last 3 fiscal years, shareholder lists, the fee receipt and an economic report on the relevant markets, competitors, market shares and the effect on prices and consumers. Article 11 has the acquirer file in an acquisition and all parties, or a mandated party, in a merger or joint venture. Article 13 provides a formal check within 10 working days, extendable once, a request for missing documents to be answered within 10 working days, and then a substantive assessment. Article 16 allows objections within 15 working days of the authority publishing the transaction's basic details, and Article 17 puts the case report to the Minister within 10 days of completion. Article 18 preserves the power to examine a concentration that was never notified, before or after completion, and to impose the penalties for failure to notify.
Articles 19 to 26 cover complaints: any interested party, including consumers, may complain on the Ministry's form; the investigation runs 90 working days from acceptance, extendable by 30; the decision follows within 15 working days of the final report. Article 27 sets the terms of settlement, and Articles 28 to 31 allocate matters between the Ministry, emirate authorities and sector regulators with short referral deadlines.
Every undertaking carrying on economic activity in the UAE that seeks an exemption for an agreement or practice, is party to a notifiable merger, acquisition or joint venture, holds a dominant position, or is the subject of a complaint; interested parties and consumers who object or complain; and the Ministry of Economy, emirate authorities and sector regulators that apply the Decree-Law.
Arabic original text in 33 articles. Open the full text or jump to a provision:
| Article 2 | Indicators that a dominant position can harm the relevant market, including technological superiority, business model, financial resources or geographic concentration that allow terms to be imposed; an advantage from innovation or research is not in itself dominance. |
| Article 5 | An exemption notification is checked for form within 10 working days and examined on the merits within 40 working days, extendable by 10 working days. |
| Article 9 | The exemption decision states its conditions, start and end dates and geographic scope; an extension must be requested in writing at least 3 months before expiry. |
| Article 10 | Contents of the concentration file: constitutional documents, licences, the transaction agreement, audited financial statements for the last 3 fiscal years, shareholder lists, the fee receipt and an economic report on the relevant markets, competitors and effects on prices and consumers. |
| Article 11 | In an acquisition the acquirer files; in a merger or joint venture all parties file, or one party under a duly certified special power of attorney. |
| Article 13 | Formal check of the concentration file within 10 working days, extendable for a similar period; missing documents to be supplied within 10 working days of the notice; then substantive assessment of the effect on the market against listed criteria. |
| Article 16 | Objections to a concentration are filed within 15 working days of the authority publishing the transaction's basic details, checked for form within 5 working days and answered within 20 working days, extendable by 7; the parties reply to an accepted objection within 10 working days. |
| Article 18 | Failure to notify does not prevent the authority examining the concentration before or after completion; the parties must comply with its decision and face the administrative penalties for non-notification. |
| Article 23 | A complaint is investigated within 90 working days of the complainant being notified of its acceptance, extendable by 30 working days. |
| Article 27 | Settlement is in writing, contains an express admission, requires payment of the amount set, not below the Decree-Law minimum, within 30 working days, and a commitment to correct the practice; it is binding and not open to challenge. |
| Article 32 | Repeals Cabinet Resolution No. 37 of 2014, the executive regulation of the previous competition law, and any conflicting provision. |
| Article 33 | Published in the Official Gazette and applied three months after the date of publication. |
None set in the Regulation itself; Article 18 confirms that the authority may impose the Decree-Law's administrative penalties for failure to notify a concentration, and Article 27 settlement requires payment of not less than the Decree-Law minimum within 30 working days.
This Regulation gives our clients the timetable they ask for once a deal crosses the notification thresholds. We prepare the file in Article 10 form before signing, which means three years of audited accounts for each party, the share registers, the signed transaction document and an economic report on the relevant market, and we pay the fee so the formal check can start on filing. We plan on 10 working days for the formal check, a possible 10-day document request, the publication and 15-working-day objection window, and the substantive review, and we make completion conditional on the decision. For clients whose distribution or exclusivity arrangements may fall within the prohibited agreements we use the exemption route, with its 10 plus 40 working-day review, rather than leave the arrangement exposed. Where a client is already party to a completed deal that was never notified, Article 18 means the exposure does not disappear, and we advise on voluntary engagement or settlement under Article 27.
| Repeals | Cabinet Resolution No. 37 of 2014 |
“Cites” and “Cited by” are built automatically from references in the full texts held in this library; they cover only instruments in the library.
Competition Law
Replaces the 2012 competition law: prohibits restrictive agreements such as price-fixing and market sharing, abuse of a dominant position and economic dependency, and req…
Competition Law Thresholds
Sets the economic-concentration notification thresholds under the Competition Law: a transaction must be notified to the Ministry of Economy where the parties' combined a…
Competition Law Fees
Prescribes the Ministry of Economy fees under the Competition Law: AED 5,000 for each exemption application (restrictive agreements, dominance, economic dependency, preda…
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