HONG KONG: The government has long discussed the need for and appropriate forms of legislation designed to prevent and punish anti-competitive, undesirable monopolistic business practices. Now, creation of a legal framework for accomplishing this is on the horizon.

The Competition Policy Advisory Group said yesterday that the government is working at full steam towards introducing the Competition Bill within the 2009-2010 legislative year, taking into account stakeholders' comments.

The group is chaired by the Financial Secretary, with members including the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, and the Consumer Council, among others.

The group said its latest plan is that the bill should not apply to government activities and will not apply to statutory bodies unless otherwise specified. Discussion with bureaus and departments on the exemption arrangements for statutory bodies within their purview is still underway.

The group, which published its 2008-09 Annual Report yesterday, said it plans to improve some of the original proposals for the competition law following a three-month public consultation last year on the proposed key elements that would form the basis for the competition law, with a view to addressing the concerns of some stakeholders on the adverse impact of the new law on normal business operations, particularly those of small and medium enterprises.

The group said over 170 written submissions were received from individuals and business organizations, which indicated general support for the proposals in the consultation document, save for some concerns regarding certain specific proposals such as the institutional arrangements for enforcing the new law, the clarity of the conduct rules, and the exemption and exclusion mechanisms.

Going into legal details, the group said changes to the institutional arrangement for the competition regulatory regime are being considered - from the original civil administration model for enforcing the bill, to a judicial model, "under which the Competition Commission will only investigate and prosecute cases while, the Competition Tribunal will be established as a special court within the Judiciary to hear and adjudicate on all cases of the competition law and hear private rights of action in all sectors."

To improve the law's clarity, the group said the "provisions on general prohibition against anti-competitive conduct will be supplemented with a non-exhaustive list of examples of such conduct, making it a statutory requirement for the commission to draw up regulatory guidelines on interpretation and implementation of the law in consultation with the public."

The group said it will continue promoting its guidelines on competition while the bill is being prepared.

The Competition Policy Advisory Group was established in December 1997 to provide a high-level and dedicated forum to review competition-related issues that will have substantial policy or systemic implications, and examine the extent to which more competition should be introduced in the public and private sectors.

(HK Edition 12/09/2009 page4)