August 2017
Interpretation of the Enterprises Participating in Concerted Action under Article 14 of the Fair Trade Law(Taiwan)
Sean Liu
The Fair Trade Commission issued the Gong-Fa-10515600941 Circular of March 1, 2016 (hereinafter, the "Circular") to interpret the meaning of the expression "sufficient to impact market functions such as production, trade in goods or supply or demand of services" under Article 14 of the Fair Trade Law.
Under Article 14 of the Fair Trade Law, the term "concerted action" means that competing enterprises at the same production and/or marketing stage, by means of contract, agreement or any other form of mutual understanding, jointly determine the price, technology, products, facilities, trading counterparts, or trading territory with respect to goods or services, or any other behavior that restricts each other's business activities to an extent sufficient to impact market functions such as production, trade in goods or supply and demand of services.
This Circular specifically points out that if the aggregate market share of enterprises participating in concerted action does not reach 10% in the relevant market, it shall be presumed that they are not sufficient to impact market functions such as production, trade in goods or supply and demand of services. However, this shall not apply if the concerted action of enterprises primarily seeks to restrict the prices, quantities, trading counterparts or trading regions of goods or services.
The Fair Trade Commission issued the Gong-Fa-10515600941 Circular of March 1, 2016 (hereinafter, the "Circular") to interpret the meaning of the expression "sufficient to impact market functions such as production, trade in goods or supply or demand of services" under Article 14 of the Fair Trade Law.
Under Article 14 of the Fair Trade Law, the term "concerted action" means that competing enterprises at the same production and/or marketing stage, by means of contract, agreement or any other form of mutual understanding, jointly determine the price, technology, products, facilities, trading counterparts, or trading territory with respect to goods or services, or any other behavior that restricts each other's business activities to an extent sufficient to impact market functions such as production, trade in goods or supply and demand of services.
This Circular specifically points out that if the aggregate market share of enterprises participating in concerted action does not reach 10% in the relevant market, it shall be presumed that they are not sufficient to impact market functions such as production, trade in goods or supply and demand of services. However, this shall not apply if the concerted action of enterprises primarily seeks to restrict the prices, quantities, trading counterparts or trading regions of goods or services.
