International Agreements
Free Trade Agreements
Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) help to promote free trade and investment. They help countries to access markets overseas through, amongst others, tariff concessions, preferential access to certain sectors and faster market entry. Many of Singapore’s FTAs include chapters on competition. The competition chapter in FTAs help to promote efficient markets and ensure a level playing field for businesses. Currently, Singapore has over 15 FTAs (including both implemented agreements and other agreements under negotiation) that include competition chapters/provisions. CCCS represents Singapore as the Chapter Lead for negotiations of competition provisions/chapters in FTAs.
For a full listing of Singapore Free Trade Agreements, please refer to IE Singapore.
Some recent negotiations include:
(a) Transpacific Partnership Agreement (TPP)
The TPP is an Asia-Pacific regional trade agreement among 12 partners namely Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, United States and Vietnam. It is one of the largest regional trade agreements to date, and the TPP countries account for 40% of global GDP and 1/3 of world trade. The TPP was signed by Parties in 2016 and is in the ratification process. For more information, view the text for the competition chapter.
(b) The European Union-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (EUSFTA)
The European Union-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (EUSFTA) is the first FTA concluded between the EU and an ASEAN country. The agreement will come into force after it is signed and ratified by parties. For more information, view the text for the competition chapter.
(c) Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)
The RCEP is a 16-party FTA involving ASEAN nations and ASEAN’s FTA partners namely Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea and New Zealand. The 16 RCEP participating countries account for almost 30 per cent of global GDP and over a quarter of world exports. Singapore is the chair of the work group on competition for the RCEP.
Cooperation Agreements
Cooperation agreements provide CCCS with a framework to cooperate with other competition agencies on competition law enforcement including areas such as notification of cases of mutual interest or significant impact, coordination of enforcement activities, exchange of information, as well as technical cooperation and experience sharing. Such agreements also serve to enhance CCCS’s capabilities to handle a broader spectrum of cases, including many which have a cross-border dimension.
(a) Japan Fair Trade Commission (“JFTC”)
CCCS entered into a cooperation agreement with the JFTC on 22 June 2017. This is CCS’s first cooperation agreement with a foreign competition agency. This agreement contains provisions on notifications between CCS and JFTC on enforcement activities, coordination of enforcement activities, exchange of information and technical cooperation. A copy of the MoC can be found here.