KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has yet to enact any anti-monopoly legislation as the size of its trading market is limited, says Fuziah Salleh.
The Deputy Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister told Dewan Rakyat that while a monopoly is not desirable in any market, the present limited size of the Malaysian market is why the government has not enacted any anti-monopoly laws.
"Under Section 10 of the Competition Act 2010, the Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC), can launch an investigation based on complaints on reports of abuse of power, monopoly or dominant power," she said in reply to a question from Fong Kui Lun (PH-Bukit Bintang).
Fong had asked the government to state the measures taken to stop monopolies on rice, bread and sugar.
In reply to this, Fuziah said that the MyCC can take action on those who impose different conditions for the same transaction or set below-cost prices to kill competitors in the market.
She said that action can also be taken against those who force consumers to buy two separate products in one tied purchase, an act commonly known as tying and bundling.
Fuziah said that the authorities would not hesitate to take action based on the existing laws.
"At the moment, Padiberas Nasional Bhd (Bernas) is monopolising (their sector) as their contracts were extended previously. For sugar, we have two major companies while for bread, there is no monopoly as there are several companies involved in the market," she said.
