The West African Competition Authority finds that Senegal infringes the regional competition law by taking actions that foreclose its national market to competition from Ivory Coast raising issues related to the integration process in West Africa (Norme NS-072)

1 Introduction and background on WAEMU This contribution reports on a case decided by the Competition Commission of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) [1]. The decision, Norme NS-72 [2], raises issues at the cross-road of trade, regional integration and competition law [3]. WAEMU is a regional integration organization which regroups eight (8) West African States [4]. It has created a common market and its regional competition regulations entered into force in 2003 [5]. The system is very centralized as it supersedes national competition regulations on cartels and abuse of dominant positions. In addition, State Aids, incompatible with the common market, are also regulated at the regional level. Member States are required to abstain from actions that could undermine the