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16 October, 2016
The competition authority has reiterated that recommended pricing guidelines and exchanges of future pricing will almost always be considered competitively harmful and a contravention of the law.
The HKCC is proposing to treat, under certain conditions, liner vessel sharing agreements – but not voluntary discussion agreements – as ‘excluded agreements’ based on efficiency grounds.
Consistent with its interactions so far with trade associations and general business guidance on information exchange and pricing recommendations, its detailed response to the Hong Kong Liner Shipping Association’s application highlights the difficulties of substantiating efficiency claims for such practices.
As there is no requirement to apply to the HKCC for a decision or block exemption order for a business to benefit from this general “efficiency exclusion”, the HKCC’s analysis offers invaluable guidance to all business when self-assessing their conduct under the general prohibition on anti-competitive agreements and practices.
For further information, please contact:
Machiuanna Chu, Partner, Deacons
machiuanna.chu@deacons.com.hk
