Myanmar Competition Commission warned against monopolies and false marketing in Myanmar

Myanmar Competition Commission will keep monopolies in check among local businesses, and unfair tender process in government development project

“You could have monopoly before, but now, you can’t and won’t now. We will take serious legal action against unfair competition, unfair tender process, and monopolies in accordance with law,” U Than Maung, Vice President of Myanmar Competition Commission, said.

A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity. Monopolies can be characterized by a lack of economic competition to produce the good or service, a lack of viable substitute goods, and the possibility of a high price well above the seller's marginal cost that leads to a high monopoly profit.

The Competition Law is not to specifically control businesses in the country, but to protect them and consumers, said U Aye Han, a member of the commission.

The law was enacted in 2015, but the commission was formed three years later in 2018, and is now holding campaigns to raise awareness through workshops and talks.

The vice president of the commission met with members of the media on September 6 and said that the commission will take action against monkey business in tender processes. This was in response to reports of corruption, and that strong and powerful businesses are making bargains to win contracts.

The commission also reminds the companies not to make misleading advertisements.

“When they are running advertisements, they need to make truthful claims. We see misleading claims in advertisements. For example, an ad often claims that their products are the best; according to who or what data? Look at education ads. They are frequently using the word “international” such as in international school. We need to scrutinize to see if they meet any international standards,” said U Thuta Aung, a member of the Commission.

The Commission has received four complaints since October 31, 2018. They would like to remind businesses that  Article 23 of the Competition Law prohibits any misleading and wrongful advertisements, while Article 18 says that a misleading product description will result in a K15 million fines, three years jail, or both.

The law is intended to make the domestic market a level playing field for consumers, and local and foreign businesses.

(Myanmar Business Today: https://www.mmbiztoday.com/articles/myanmar-competition-commission-warns-against-monopolies-and-false-marketing )

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