Port of Longoni in Mayotte: the Autorité de la concurrence fines several companies in the Mayotte-based Nel group a total of €2.1 million for abuse of a dominant position in the port handling sector

Following a report from the Directorate General for Competition Policy, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF), and after having carried out dawn raids and, in 2021, fined Mayotte Channel Gateway (MCG) and its parent company for obstructing the investigation, the Autorité de la concurrence has now issued its decision on the merits of the case and has fined several companies in the Mayotte-based Nel group for engaging in two practices constituting an abuse of a dominant position at the port of Longoni in Mayotte.

First, the Autorité found that the Nel group had used the dominant position held by MCG, the public service concessionaire at the Port of Longoni, to expand into various related port handling markets by means other than competition on the merits. The Autorité notes in particular that, by taking control of the port’s entire economic activity, beyond its initial role as a concessionaire, the Nel group engaged in practices that resulted in the exclusion of Société Mahoraise d’Acconage de Représentation et de Transit (SMART), the incumbent cargo-handling operator at the port of Longoni, in favour of its own handling subsidiary, Manu-Port.

Second, the Autorité found that MCG abused its dominant position in the market for the horizontal handling of full containers to and from Mayotte by imposing unfair trading conditions on Mayotte-based importers, including charges for services unrelated to those actually provided, which led to an increase in costs for Mayotte-based importers.

For these reasons, the Autorité has imposed a total fine of €2,162,599 on several companies in the Nel group, having found that MCG’s status as a public service concessionaire constituted an aggravating factor.

In addition, the Autorité has ordered MCG to publish a summary of the decision on the website and in the print edition of Mayotte Hebdo.