The Product Markets Division deals with the manual and industrial production of consumer and capital goods as well as with trade in these goods. The concerned products range from the agriculture sector, foodstuffs, drinks and tobacco industries metals and engineering to the chemicals industry. These sectors of the Swiss economy are essentially in private hands, but are often subject to strict state regulation.
The work of the Product Markets Division focuses on procedures under the Cartel Act against horizontal agreements between competitors (cartels), vertical agreements like market foreclosure (obstruction of parallel imports) and retailer price fixing and merger controls. In addition, the Division systematically monitors the markets to detect any unlawful conduct by companies or whether economic regulations may be distorting competition.