In an important step towards the full implementation of the Competition Ordinance, the Competition Commission (the Commission) and the Communications Authority* (CA) today (30 March) published revised versions of Draft Guidelines (Revised Draft Guidelines) under the Competition Ordinance (Cap. 619) (the Ordinance).
The publication of the Revised Draft Guidelines follows careful consideration by the Commission of the feedback received from stakeholders during the public consultation on the Draft Guidelines released in October 2014. Together with the Revised Draft Guidelines, the Commission has published a Guide to the Revised Draft Guidelines Issued Under the Competition Ordinance summarising its approach to preparing the Revised Draft Guidelines including how it addressed key issues raised in the submissions received from stakeholders.
The Revised Draft Guidelines will be presented to the Legislative Council for consultation in late April.
Following the release of the Draft Guidelines in October 2014, the Commission received 64 submissions from a range of stakeholders, including trade associations, Chambers of Commerce, political parties, public bodies, professional advisory bodies, private organisations and individuals. These submissions and feedback provided in meetings with a range of organisations assisted the Commission in identifying areas where amendment of the Draft Guidelines was merited to clarify particular points or provide additional guidance.
Anna Wu Hung-yuk, Chairperson of the Commission, said, “We were extremely pleased to receive so many useful comments on our draft Guidelines. We are grateful to all those who spent their time and effort preparing submissions and attending the Commission’s seminars and meetings. With the release of the Revised Draft Guidelines today, we are significantly closer to the full commencement of the Ordinance.”
Dr. Stanley Wong, Chief Executive Officer of the Commission, said, “The 64 submissions on our Draft Guidelines were made by a wide range of entities, some representing thousands of businesses in Hong Kong. Each of these submissions was carefully considered by the Commission. In response to the submissions, the Commission has added clarifications and explanations in areas where more guidance is needed. We also refined the existing hypothetical examples and included additional ones where we thought they might help people understand the Commission’s approach.”
The Revised Draft Guidelines are available on the Commission’s website www.compcomm.hk and the Communications Authority’s website www.coms-auth.hk. Should businesses and members of the public have any comments, they are welcome to send them to the Commission by email (guidelines@compcomm.hk) by 20 April before the Revised Draft Guidelines are presented to the Legislative Council for consultation under the Ordinance. The Commission will consider any additional comments received when finalising the Guidelines.
Designed to be applicable across all sectors and industries, the Guidelines outline how the Commission expects to interpret and give effect to the three competition rules in the Ordinance (First Conduct Rule, Second Conduct Rule and Merger Rule), as well as the procedures for handling complaints, conducting investigations and considering applications for exclusions and exemptions. Once adopted, the Guidelines will provide guidance to businesses about how the Commission will enforce the Ordinance and pave the way for full implementation of the Ordinance.
In the lead-up to the full implementation of the Ordinance, the Commission will continue to develop and release policies and publications to assist businesses to comply with the new law. These will include operational documents such as a leniency policy and a statement of the Commission's enforcement priorities, and short publications directed to specific sectors or entities such as trade associations. The Commission will also continue to reach out to the public through promotional campaigns in the mass media. Internally, enhancement of its enforcement and operational capability is underway so that the Commission will be ready to be an effective law enforcer once the Ordinance takes full effect.
About the Commission
The Commission is an independent statutory body established to enforce the Competition Ordinance (Cap. 619), which was enacted in June 2012. The objective of the Ordinance is to prohibit conduct that prevents, restricts or distorts competition and mergers that substantially lessen competition in Hong Kong. At the present time, the Merger Rule applies only to a merger involving an undertaking that directly or indirectly holds a carrier licence issued under the Telecommunications Ordinance (Cap. 106).
About the Communications Authority
The Communications Authority is an independent statutory body established under the Communications Authority Ordinance (Cap. 616) on 1 April 2012. It is a unified regulatory body overseeing the telecommunications and broadcasting sectors.
*While the Commission is the principal competition authority responsible for enforcing the Ordinance, it has concurrent jurisdiction with the Communications Authority in relation to the conduct of certain undertakings operating in the broadcasting and telecommunications sectors. Unless stated otherwise, so far as a matter relates to areas falling within this concurrent jurisdiction, references in this press release to the Commission are to be read as applying also to the Communications Authority.