Chapter 14. Competition
Article 1
Basic Principles
- The Parties recognise the importance of co-operation in the promotion of competition, economic efficiency, consumer welfare and the curtailment of anti-competitive practices.
- The Parties recognise the significant differences in capacity between ASEAN Member States, Australia and New Zealand in the area of competition policy.
- The Parties respect the sovereign rights of each Party to develop, set, administer and enforce its own competition laws and policies.
- Nothing in this Chapter requires a Party to develop specific competition related measures to address anti-competitive practices, or prevents a Party from adopting policies in other fields, for example to promote economic development.
Article 2
Co-operation
- The Parties may engage in co-operation activities consistent with Article 1 (Basic Principles) in the field of competition, including:
- exchange of experience regarding the promotion and enforcement of competition law and policy;
- exchange of publicly available information about competition law and policy;
- exchange of officials for training purposes;
- exchange of consultants and experts on competition law and policy;
- participation of officials as lecturers, consultants, or participants at training courses on competition law and policy;
- participation of officials in advocacy programmes;
- other related activities following the introduction of a competition law in a Party; and
- any other form of technical co-operation as agreed upon by the Parties.
- Mindful of this, where implementation of this Chapter is inhibited by capacity constraints, Australia and New Zealand may provide co-operation as they deem appropriate to assist ASEAN Member States with such implementation. Co-operation is subject to competition policy-related needs being identified and the availability of resources, having regards to respective Parties’ laws and regulations.
Article 3
Contact Points
To ensure that technical co-operation under this Chapter occurs on an ongoing basis, the Parties shall designate contact points for technical co-operation and information exchange under this Chapter.
Article 4
Non-Application of Chapter 17 (Consultations and Dispute Settlement)
Chapter 17 (Consultations and Dispute Settlement) shall not apply to any matter arising under this Chapter.
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