The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) is updating six of its competition guidelines, to educate and inform businesses and competition practitioners by refining and clarifying the analytical and procedural frameworks employed by the CCCS in administering and enforcing the Competition Act (Cap. 50B) (the “Act”) in Singapore. The CCCS is conducting a public consultation for feedback on its proposed amendments to the competition guidelines in respect of the treatment of intellectual property rights, market definition, section 47 prohibition (abuse of a dominant position), enforcement, substantive assessment of mergers and merger procedures (“Public Consultation”). The closing date for submissions is 8 October 2020.

The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (“CCCS”) issued the Guidelines on Price Transparency (“Guidelines”) to explain how it would interpret the Consumer Protection Fair Trading Act (“CPFTA”) in relation to the display/advertisement of prices and pricing practices such as time-limited discounts, free offers and price comparisons. The Guidelines apply to all suppliers, whether operating online or in physical stores, and will come into effect on 1 November 2020.

The CCCS is also reviewing the CPFTA to enhance its enforcement powers.

The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) is updating its competition guidelines to provide more clarity and guidance to businesses in the digital sector. This follows the commission’s e-commerce platform market study report (the “Study”) released on 10 September 2020. The CCCS’s public consultation exercise on the proposed changes to the guidelines is ongoing until 8 October 2020.

The CCCS also urged e-commerce platform operators to raise sellers’ awareness and understanding of the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act (CPFTA) and encouraged sellers to adopt its recommended “good trade practices.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the supply of essential goods and services around the world, including Singapore, and such disruptions have required competitors to temporarily collaborate to sustain or improve the supply of essential goods and services. To provide clarity on whether such collaborations will fall afoul of the Singapore Competition Act (Cap. 50B) (the “Act”), the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (“CCCS”) has issued the “CCCS Guidance Note on Collaborations between Competitors in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic” (“Guidance Note”).