A textbook cartel case: The Asia-Pacific Tipline for 27 March 2020

Australia’s competition watchdog has authorised competitors to collaborate in four key industries as the country tries to battle back against the covid-19 pandemic, which has disrupted global and local supply chains, halted most travel and left consumers and businesses scrambling. The ACCC has a well-oiled authorisations machine, and its staff have experience assessing requests to authorise certain conduct – albeit likely not on such short timetables – but other countries have issued broad policy statements in response to the crisis. Competition authorities in Asia-Pacific are trying to maintain some semblance of normalcy, as a new cartel case was brought in Hong Kong and Japan released its findings from a market inquiry.