论反垄断法的安全港规则

On the Safe Harbor Rule in Antitrust Law

摘要: 安全港规则作为反垄断法中的一项重要豁免机制，已在欧美等司法辖区形成较为成熟的制度体系。我国在2022年新修订的《中华人民共和国反垄断法》中明确确立该规则，并将其置于纵向垄断协议条款之下。与立法上的明确限定形成对比的是，理论界对安全港规则是否应扩展适用于横向垄断协议、轴辐协议等其它垄断行为类型仍存广泛争议。同时，规则中“其他条件”的模糊表述也导致其适用中存在较大不确定性，亟待从实体与程序两个维度予以细化。本文通过梳理安全港规则的法理基础与演进历程，分析我国在适用该规则过程中面临的主要困境，并在借鉴国际经验的基础上，从适用范围、适用条件与程序构建三个方面提出系统性完善建议，以期为我国反垄断安全港规则的有效实施提供理论支撑与路径参考。

Abstract: As an important exemption mechanism in antitrust law, the safe harbor rule has evolved into a relatively mature institutional framework in jurisdictions such as the European Union and the United States. China explicitly established the rule in the newly revised Anti-Monopoly Law of the People’s Republic of China in 2022, placing it under the provisions on vertical monopoly agreements. In contrast to this clear legislative scope, considerable debate persists in the academic community over whether the safe harbor rule should be extended to other types of monopolistic conduct, such as horizontal monopoly agreements and hub-and-spoke agreements. Moreover, the vague wording of “other conditions” in the rule has created significant uncertainty in its application, urgently calling for refinement from both substantive and procedural dimensions. By tracing the jurisprudential foundations and the evolution of the safe harbor rule, this paper analyzes the principal challenges China faces in applying the rule. Drawing on international experience, it then proposes systematic recommendations for improvement from three perspectives—the scope of application, the conditions of application, and procedural design—with the aim of providing theoretical support and a practical reference for the effective implementation of the safe harbor rule in China’s anti-monopoly law.