Mexico govt to push lawmakers on competition reform

* Calderon to push for tougher competition law

* Reform proposal would include jail for guilty execs

MEXICO CITY, Sept 9 - Mexican President Felipe Calderon plans to push legislators to pass a law to jail company executives who collude to fix prices, the country's top anti-trust official said on Wednesday.

The government also will ask Congress to beef up fines for companies caught breaking anti-trust laws, competition commission head Eduardo Perez Motta told Reuters in a phone interview.

"Anyone who colludes with competitors to fix prices, or to divide a market regionally or to reduce supplies to the market ... all of that should be punished criminally," Perez Motta said.

Mexican legislators in the past have declined to pass similar proposals.

Calderon announced on Tuesday he would launch a series of initiatives to make Mexico's economy more efficient, including giving more power to the anti-trust commission.

Companies guilty of collusion should be fined the equivalent of 10 percent of their annual sales, Perez Motta said, adding that current fines are insignificant to big companies.

The commission is currently investigating whether Mexico's Cemex, the world's No. 3 cement maker, colluded with other building materials companies.

"Not just Cemex, but other companies as well, have to defend themselves and show they have not engaged in this practice," Perez Motta said.

Last year, the European Commission raided the offices of Cemex and other building materials firms on suspicion of illegal cartel activity in Europe.