SINGAPORE Law and Practice Contributed by: Lim Chong Kin and Corinne Chew, Drew & Napier LLC
granted in Singapore since the Competition Act came into force. Notably, Section 33 (4) of the Competition Act also provides that the substantive prohibitions will not apply to any activity carried on by, any agreement entered into or any conduct on the part of the government, any statutory body or any person acting on behalf of the government or that statutory body, as the case may be, regarding that activity, agreement or conduct. 1.5 Limitation Periods There are no limitation period(s) applicable to a breach of the Section 34 Prohibition. 1.6 Jurisdiction Section 33 of the Competition Act specifi - cally states that the Commission may enforce infringements of the Section 34 Prohibition if the conduct that takes place outside Singapore has the object or effect of preventing, restricting or distorting competition in a market within Singa - pore. In particular, Section 33 of the Competition Act specifies that Section 34 of the Competition Act may apply notwithstanding that: • an agreement referred to in Section 34 has been entered into outside Singapore; • any party to such agreement is outside Singa - pore; or • any other matter, practice or action arising out of such agreement is outside Singapore. 1.7 Principles of Comity Pursuant to Section 88 of the Competition Act, the Commission is empowered to enter into arrangements with any foreign competition body with the approval of the Minister, whereby each party to such arrangements may:
• furnish the other party with information in its possession if the information is required by that other party for the purpose of perfor - mance by it of any of its functions; and • provide such other assistance to the other party as will facilitate the performance by that other party of any of its functions. In entering into any such arrangement, Section 88 of the Competition Act requires the Commis - sion to adopt certain precautions relating to the subsequent disclosure of any information pro - vided, including obtaining a written undertaking from the counterparty. As of 12 April 2025, the Commission has entered into: • a memorandum of understanding to facilitate co-operation on competition enforcement with Indonesia’s Commission for the Supervi - sion of Business Competition; • a memorandum of co-operation with Japan’s Fair Trade Commission on cross-border enforcement; • a memorandum of understanding with Canada’s Competition Bureau to facilitate co-operation in the enforcement of national competition and consumer protection laws; • a memorandum of understanding with the Philippine Competition Commission; and • a memorandum of understanding with the State Administration for Market Regulation of the People’s Republic of China. The Framework It should also be noted that the Commission joined the International Competition Network’s Framework on Competition Agency Procedures (the “Framework” ) as a founding member on 16 May 2019. The Framework promotes several basic and non-binding principles designed to facilitate procedural fairness and transparency among participating competition agencies, in
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