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I
am happy to note that the past year has been another fruitful
one for CCS. Our commitment to make markets work well for
businesses and consumers has continued to drive us to achieve
many significant milestones this year.
CCS issued two proposed infringement decisions for alleged bid-
rigging conduct in tenders for electrical services and asset tagging;
and price-fixing involving five capacitor manufacturers. We also
looked at two abuse of dominance cases involving restrictive industry
practices and exclusive agreements. In the former, the commitment
by one of the investigated parties to supply lift spare parts to third-
party lift maintenance contractors will provide more options for HDB
lift maintenance. In the online food delivery industry, CCS ceased its
investigation into exclusive agreements as competition had not been
harmed and the industry continued to grow.
In 2016, CCS reviewed seven merger cases spanning a diverse
range of industries, including manufacturing, financial services and
transportation, to assess if they will substantially lessen competition.
In the airline industry, we accepted voluntary commitments from
CHIEF
EXECUTIVE’S
MESSAGE
YEAR IN REVIEW
Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa in clearing their proposed joint
venture. The commitments would mitigate the competition concerns
on two routes and provide assurance that the claimed benefits of the
proposed joint venture to Singapore would materialise.
To complement effective enforcement with advocacy, CCS is active in
engaging our key stakeholders. CCS issued 27 competition advisories to
government agencies to determine the optimal approach in addressing
policy issues. Our collateral in dual languages was published to further
strengthen the culture of competition compliance among the business
community. Our long established partnership with the Economic
Society of Singapore (“ESS”) allowed us to launch the 2nd CCS-ESS
Essay Competition. Themed “Disruptive Innovation and Competition
Policy: Friend or Foe”, the competition in 2016 attracted a total of 71
entries from tertiary students and working professionals.
CCS also successfully concluded its chairmanship for the Ministry
of Trade and Industry (“MTI”) Organisational Excellence Network in
December 2016. Various work initiatives were completed, including the
whole of government “Excellence in Public Service Awards (ExPSA)”
Ceremony 2016 that recognises public service officers for outstanding
service and public organisations’ achievements in organisational
excellence and in implementing best practices.
To coordinate and promote competition policy and law (“CPL”)
beyond its shores, CCS has remained active in the ASEAN Experts
Group on Competition (“AEGC”) since its establishment. This includes
developing guidelines and handbooks to guide ASEAN Member States in
implementing competition law, organising capacity building workshops,
and hosting staff attachments to improve the level of expertise and
human capital of emerging competition authorities in ASEAN.
In the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (“RCEP”), CCS
chaired the negotiation of the competition chapter which led to a
high ambition competition chapter forming an integral part of the
multilateral mega trade pact.
CCS has been elected by the ICN membership as one of the Steering
Group members at the International Competition Network (“ICN”),
which is the international body for over 100 competition authorities.
COMPETITION COMMISSION OF SINGAPORE
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