The Philippines and China have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) intended to strengthen competition law enforcement and combat cross border cartels.
The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) on Tuesday signed an MOU with China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) geared toward improving bilateral cooperation on competition law enforcement. The MOU will put out a general framework for cooperation in the enforcement of antitrust rules and regulations.
As such, the PCC and SAMR are expected to exchange information, cooperate on enforcement activities, notify cases of mutual interest and do technical cooperation and capacity building.
PCC Chairman Arsenio M. Balisacan said such MOU is important in promoting and protecting competitive markets and suppressing cross border cartels. The PCC has been working closely with its international counterparts in implementing its mandate.
“The PCC considers foreign competition authorities as partners and allies toward our shared commitment to promote and protect competitive markets and combat cross border cartels,” Balisacan said in a news statement issued on Wednesday.
The PCC this year coordinated with the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore on the Grab and Uber merger case. It also carried out exchange programs with the Korea Fair Trade Commission, and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, and hosted the Myanmar Competition Commission’s study visit in the Philippines.
The antitrust body is also working with the Asean Experts Group on Competition, International Competition Network, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, as well as with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development Competition Division.
According to Balisacan, the MOU between the PCC and SAMR will provide the two agencies a mechanism to do dialogues on economic issues and developments in their respective antitrust policies. Such mechanism is crucial, he argued, at a time markets are becoming “increasingly borderless and dynamic.”
“Our MOU marks the start of a productive partnership between the PCC and SAMR, recognizing that international cooperation is essential to safeguard competition in today’s increasingly borderless and dynamic markets,” Balisacan explained.
The SAMR is China’s consolidated state agency acting as the country’s competition regulator. Its jurisdiction spans from competition, intellectual property, business registration up to product safety safety and standards.