The government has made two key changes to its competition bill, hoping to remove the final political hurdles to its passage in the legislature by July.
The long-awaited law aims to curb anti-competitive behaviour and provide a level playing field for companies. It distinguishes between 'non-serious' practices - such as restrictions on advertising - and serious misconduct such as price-fixing and bid-rigging.
Yesterday's concessions lifted two key thresholds, in an effort to prevent harming small and medium-sized businesses caught in non-serious offences. It raised the turnover threshold from HK$11 million to HK$40 million: companies with less than HK$40 million in annual turnover will be exempt from rules on the abuse of 'substantial market power', which comes under the heading of non-serious offences.
It also raised a second threshold - when more than one company is involved - on their combined turnover from HK$100 million to HK$200 million. There are no exemptions for serious offences.
Yesterday's changes marked the second concession to the draft bill originally tabled to the Legislative Council in July 2010. The government made six concessions to the business lobby in October of last year, responding to complaints that the bill's terms were too severe and would harm small businesses.
Those concessions drew criticism from supporters of the original draft - particularly pan-democratic lawmakers - who said they had weakened the bill.