In February 2023, the Competition Appeal Tribunal ("CAT") unanimously affirmed the Malaysia Competition Commission's ("MyCC") infringement decision against warehouse operators for engaging in a price-fixing cartel in relation to long length handling and heavy lift handling services for import and export cargoes at Port Klang. Uniquely, in this decision, CAT decided that the deeming provision under section 4(2) of the Competition Act 2010 ("Competition Act") is not rebuttable once the conditions for its operation have been satisfied.
On 7 June 2023, MyCC issued a press statement highlighting that it was working with the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living to tackle competition issues surrounding the supply and sale of sugar in the Malaysian market. These issues include behaviour such as:
- hoarding: the restriction or control of market access and outlets for supply and sale of sugar;
- conditional sales: tying and bundling; and
- refusal to supply by certain market players.
According to MyCC, such behaviour may result in infringements of the Competition Act, carrying penalties of up to 10% of the player's worldwide turnover during the infringement period.
In the telecommunication sector, the Malaysian Government announced in May 2023 that it would adopt a dual network model for the rollout of 5G services in the country. This would terminate its previous plans to have a single state-run network owned by a state-owned agency, Digital Nasional Berhad. This move appears to address concerns about pricing and competition, and supports the dismantling of monopolies.
