On 27 November 2019, the Government presented the Competition Bill (“the Bill”) to the Parliament.

The Bill, which is intended to curb anti-competitive practices of businesses and the abuse of a dominant position in the market, contains three key prohibitions, namely:

• Anti-competitive agreements and practices, including:
  • fixing purchase or selling price or any other trading conditions;
  • limiting or controlling production, markets, technical development or investment;
  • dividing up markets and agreeing to sell only to the allotted segment of the market (market sharing); and
  • refusal to deal;
• Abuse of a dominant position, including:
  • selling a product or service at a loss or at an uncompetitively low price to force competitors out of the market (dumping);
  • predatory behaviour towards competitors;
  • limiting production, markets or technical development to the prejudice of consumers; and
  • concluding contracts subject to acceptance by the other parties of supplementary obligations which, by their nature or according to commercial usage, have no connection with the subject of the contracts;
• Mergers and acquisitions that substantially lessen competition.

The Bill proposes to grant the Ministry of Economic Development enforcement powers, including the power to investigate suspected infringements, impose infringement penalties and grant specific or block exemptions under certain circumstances. The Bill is expected to be finalised in the Parliament’s first session in 2020.