The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (“CCCS”) has issued a guidance note to provide businesses with more clarity on collaborations between competitors in relation to the supply of essential goods or services in Singapore (the “COVID-19 Guidance Note”).

The disruption arising from the COVID-19 pandemic may require companies to temporarily collaborate to sustain or improve the supply of essential goods or services. Such collaborations may need to be put in place quickly during this period. Under normal circumstances, such collaborations may require further assessment for net economic benefits.

Given the exceptional nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, for a temporary period, CCCS will assume that collaborations that sustain or improve the supply of essential goods or services in Singapore, which are limited in scope and time  as set out in the COVID-19 Guidance Note, and which do not involve price-fixing, bid-rigging, market sharing or output limitation, are likely to generate net economic benefits (“NEB”) and therefore, are unlikely to infringe the Competition Act (Cap. 50B) (the “Act”). CCCS will generally not investigate such collaborations.

Read the full media release here.