Venezuela does not mandate functional separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market. However, it is reported that there is an obligation of accounting separation. The Organic Telecommunications Law establishes in the Final Provisions (13th) that the regulations of this Law may provide for the obligation of telecommunications operators to separate their accounting by services in order to guarantee transparency in their operations and allow effective control by the Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (National Telecommunications Commission) and by the Superintendencia para la Promoción y Protección de la Libre Competencia (Superintendency for the Promotion and Protection of Free Competition), in accordance with the rules established for such purpose.

Art. 13 of Decree No. 1399 stipulates that, for the selection of bids where the prices do not exceed 5% of the best-evaluated bid, preference shall be given to the bid that meets the following criteria:
- in the procurement of goods, the offer with the highest national added value;
- in the procurement of works and services, the bid submitted by a bidder whose leading domicile is in Venezuela has a greater incorporation of national parts and inputs and a greater participation of national human resources, including at the managerial level.
Once the above criteria have been applied, if the evaluation yields two or more bids with equal results, preference will be given to the bidder that has greater national participation in its capital.

Art. 5 of the Organic Telecommunications Law provides that to establish or operate telecommunications networks and to provide telecommunications services, the prior obtaining of the corresponding administrative authorisation, concession or permit, if necessary, shall be required in the cases and conditions established by the legislation and the National Telecommunications Commission. The mentioned activities and services may be subject to quality parameters and special goals of uniform minimum coverage, as well as to the provision of services under preferential conditions of access and prices to certain public institutions.

It is reported that Venezuela’s public procurement system suffers from limited transparency, insufficient public access to procurement information and weaknesses in the use and oversight of competitive tendering procedures. More recent reports indicate that tendering, contract-award and implementation information is generally not published, while emergency procedures and direct awards have increasingly been associated with corruption risks and documented cases of grand corruption.

Venezuela has only partially appended the World Trade Organization (WTO) Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of commitments.

Venezuela is not a party to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA), nor does it have observer status.

According to Arts. 34-35 of the Organic Telecommunications Law (Gaceta Oficial No. 39.610: Ley Orgánica de Telecomunicaciones), the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL), the executive authority for the supervision and administration of services in the telecommunications sector, is independent from the government in the decision-making process. However, Art. 40 provides that the Board of Directors is made up of the General Director of the National Telecommunications Commission, who presides over it, and four directors who are freely appointed and removed by the President of the Republic.

Venezuela regulates foreign investment under the Constitutional Law on Productive Foreign Investment, published in Official Gazette No. 41,310 of 29 December 2017. The Law does not establish a horizontal foreign equity cap and, under Art. 33, foreign investments are generally entitled to treatment equivalent to that afforded to domestic investments.

Art. 35 of the Constitutional Law of Productive Foreign Investment establishes that all foreign investment must comply with several conditions, among which is to contribute to national economic development. In this regard, Art. 40 states that the governing body has broad supervisory powers for the purpose of verifying compliance with this Constitutional Law.

Art. 19 of the Constitutional Law on Foreign Productive Investment establishes that in order to be registered, foreign investment must be for a minimum amount, CNY 6,500,000 or its equivalent in another foreign currency (approx. 940,000 USD).

Venezuela is not a signatory of the 1996 World Trade Organization (WTO) Information Technology Agreement (ITA) nor the 2015 expansion (ITA II).

Art. 11 of Decree No. 1399 establishes that the President can mandate temporary changes in the bidding process under exceptional circumstances in accordance with economic development plans that promote national development or provide preferences to domestic goods and suppliers. It is reported that these measures include reserving procurement for nationals, although there is no further information on how this reservation would be implemented.

The Consumer Relations and Consumer Defence Law provides a comprehensive consumer protection framework that applies to online transactions. The law covers competition, product and user safety, environmental concerns, and financial regulations.