SMEs In Hong Kong Still Concerned Over Competition Bill Implications

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SMEs In Hong Kong Still Concerned Over Competition Bill Implications

Wednesday, November 02, 2011

Despite a recent meeting of the Legislative Council to discuss amendments to the Competition Bill, the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce (HKGCC) has argued that the aspects likely to adversely affect SMEs in the territory remain an issue.

The HKGCC argued that the proposed 'de minimis' threshold, below which businesses will not be regulated under the new competition rules is still set too low at HKD11mn "because even a small trading company can have an annual turnover exceeding HKD11mn, but its profit can still be very small".

It went on to state that: "We hope that the government will raise this threshold", and added:

"In addition, some critical terms in the Bill, such as “competition” and “abuse” of market power, have yet to be clearly defined...The Chamber believes a clear competition law can benefit the overall economy, community, business and consumers. However, there are still many outstanding issues in the proposed amendments which need to be addressed."

Additional changes proposed included a reduction of the proposed maximum penalty, and the creation of an initial warning system in case of non 'hardcore' infringement activity.

The new Competition Bill is expected to be voted on by mid-2012.