Competition Law and Vertical Restraints in Thailand
Dr Mel Marquis secured funding to support the ‘Competition Law and Vertical Restraints in Thailand: A Best Practice Approach for Distribution Agreements’ project.
23 March 2023
In February 2023, CLARS member Dr Mel Marquis secured funding from the Commonwealth to support a project entitled Competition Law and Vertical Restraints in Thailand: A Best Practice Approach for Distribution Agreements. The research will focus on the Thai legal and economic context and Thai business practices, but will also consider how competition law should be applied to distribution agreements across the ASEAN region. The work may provide a basis for future studies of a similar nature focusing on other ASEAN Member States.
The project, arranged and managed by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), will consist of several elements. First, a significant body of global experience and practice will provide lessons that amount to a ‘late mover advantage’ for Thailand, as targeted and tailored practices may be identified, adapted and adopted considering the needs of Thai competition law and policy. Second, the economics of distribution agreements will inform the proposed legal solutions so that both type I and type II enforcement errors are minimised and avoided. Third, the research will seek to identify desirable legal and policy approaches that may facilitate the official objective of ASEAN Member States to move toward greater harmonisation of their competition laws—and to achieve effective enforcement of those laws—as part of the ASEAN Economic Community. The hoped-for convergence of competition laws across ASEAN is however a challenging proposition due to acute diversity among the relevant countries. The project will take account of: the specific legal rules in Thailand, under the Trade Competition Act 2017; the heterogeneous, and indeed divergent approach to distribution agreements in the other Member States; and international best practices in this field of law.