KUALA LUMPUR: Amendments to the Competition Act 2010 are targeted to be tabled in Parliament before the end of the year, says Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali (pic).
The amendments will include enhancing the investigative and enforcement powers of the Malaysia Competition Commission, with changes already at the final stage.
"This will include the introduction of a merger control regime that can prevent the formation of any cartels or monopolies in the market," he said when winding up debates on the 13th Malaysia Plan in the Dewan Rakyat on Thursday (Aug 21).
He said the ministry also takes note of suggestions to improve the detection and investigation process towards cartel and bid-rigging activities prior to the procurement process.
He said the Malaysia Competition Commission has the mandate to carry out investigations based on four avenues.
This includes through its ex-officio status, instructions from the minister, information received from the public, government industries or industry players, or through information received from those involved in anti-competitive activities.
Armizan said that the Malaysia Competition Commission does not have the authority to instruct ministries or agencies to remove or exclude any bidders from the screening process for any tender if the bidders were not proven to have violated the Act.
"Ministries and agencies can however remove or exclude them if they were found to have flouted competition laws," he said.
"Won tenders can also be revoked if the companies were found to have violated the same Act," he added.
Citing enforcement records, Armizan said 270 businesses were found to have violated the Act.
Of the number, 268 were found to have participated in cartels while two were found misusing their monopoly status.
At the same time, he said 26 businesses were proven to have been part of bid rigging activities, with a collective penalty imposed of RM97.31mil.
Armizan said the list of businesses found to have taken part in bid-rigging cartels is also uploaded to the Malaysia Competition Commission website.
"This can be referenced by ministries and government agencies for them to consider the next course of action while managing procurements.
"The Malaysia Competition Commission also welcomes further cooperation with ministries and agencies in carrying out advocacy programmes to increase awareness on bid-rigging cartels in public procurement," he said.
