Report market review on food sector in malaysia under

Report – Market Review on Food Sector in Malaysia under the Competition Act 2010
272
Country Case Anti-competition conducts / areas of concerns Verdicts / measures to address the concerns
based on the identity of buyers.
India Competitive
Assessment of
Onion Markets
- Control of market structure by the traders
- Well-connected big traders and its networks with
market intermediaries in other markets which play
a major role in hoarding the stock for expected high
prices.
- Higher reta iler’s mark -up over the wholesale
markets price by more than 150% in almost all
major markets.
- Existence of anti-competitive elements in the onion
markets through analysis of seasonal indices,
correlations, daily, monthly arrivals their prices etc.,
in which collusion among traders was confirmed
where it was undertaken through secret bidding
and the traders collude to share the produce.
- Encourage free entry of new commission agents
and traders (including private companies) for
market efficiency and efficient price formation
- Strengthen regulatory system for effective
monitoring and weeding out market intermediaries
playing multiple roles and engaging in unfair
practices
- Promote direct sales of farmers to wholesalers and
link small farmers’ produce to retail c hains to
reduce marketing costs.
- Develop better system for forecasting total
production considering economic and
meteorological events; Record, disseminate and
analyse price data for onion in key markets in the
country for better price transmissions to the actors
involved in the supply chain.

Report – Market Review on Food Sector in Malaysia under the Competition Act 2010
273
9. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Beef, fish, vegetables and infant formula are among the most significant food items consumed by
consumers in Malaysia. Hence, any fluctuations in prices at any level have a huge impact on the food
security, suppliers’ and consumers’ welfare. Through the ma rket assessment, it has been observed that
Malaysia is experiencing consistent increase in prices for the respective products covered in this study.
Before the inception of this market review, the MyCC was concerned that there might be competition
concerns for the five (5) products covered in this study. In fact, some concerns from the viewpoint of
market structure, policy driven issues, regulatory barriers, market efficiencies and/or other market
practices concerns were identified following this study. Each of the product market covered in this study
may differ in terms of market characteristics, although there were some common market efficiency
issues identified for certain product groups.
Based on the assessment conducted, several areas of concerns related to market and policy driven
issues has been identified which may require further attention from respective authorities and industry
players.