Case Opened: April, 18, 2007
It was alleged that Nassco Ltd was requiring Used Car Dealers to produce their customs warrant and commercial invoice documents when seeking valuations on Toyota vehicles.
The Commission found that Nassco Ltd, by requiring that Used Car Dealers provide warrants and invoices which contained confidential cost information in order to obtain valuations, had acted in breach of the Fair Competition Act.
It was found that in demanding such confidential information of one’s competitor, amounted to a distortion of competition in the market. This is prohibited under Section 13 of the Act.
Nassco in response to the Commission’s preliminary report on the matter indicated that they would discontinue the alleged anti-competitive practice of requiring that persons produce their customs documents. The company, however, disagreed with the Commission’s decision, and indicated that the Commission had failed to consider the issue of under invoicing and the impact of the same on its brand.
After review of the Company’s views, the Commission determined that the issues raised by the Company were already being addressed by the appropriate Government agency and the responses provided by Nassco did not give it cause to change from its original view.
The Commission however congratulated the company on its decision to discontinue the alleged anti-competitive practice and indicated its intention to continue to monitor the company’s activities in this area.
Case Closed: July 2008
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