Singapore: Signed Competition Act including unilateral conduct regulation

On 4 November 2004, the President of Singapore signed the Competition Act 2004, including provisions on unilateral conduct regulation. The provisions are found in Section 47 of the Competition Act and prohibit conduct that constitutes an abuse of a dominant position in a market. This includes actions that protect, enhance, or perpetuate dominance in ways unrelated to competitive merit. Examples of abusive conduct include predatory pricing, limiting production or technical development to the detriment of consumers, imposing vertical restraints, refusing to supply essential facilities to competitors, price discrimination, and making contracts conditional on unrelated supplementary obligations. The prohibition is directed at the abuse of dominance, not dominance itself. The Act establishes a two-step test to determine infringement, assessing if an undertaking is dominant and if it is abusing that position. Dominance is indicated by factors such as the ability to sustain prices above competitive levels or restrict output below competitive levels. Lastly, prohibition also covers collective dominance, where two or more independent undertakings act together in a market, adopting a common policy and operating independently of competitors, customers, and consumers.