SINGAPORE: The High Court has overturned a ruling by the Competition Appeal Board, reinstating a decision by the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCS) that two warehouse operators breached competition law by exchanging information on planned price increases.
In a judgment issued on Jun 30, the court allowed CCS’ appeal and found that the two warehouses â CNL Logistic Solutions and Gilmon Transportation & Warehousing â had infringed Section 34 of the Competition Act by sharing information about their intention to impose a surcharge.Â
The case stemmed from an investigation conducted by CCS into four warehouse operators at Keppel Distripark.Â
In November 2022, the competition watchdog issued a decision on the infringement, after finding that representatives from the companies had communicated in June 2017 about plans to introduce a Free Trade Zone (FTZ) surcharge at the same rate as the largest warehouse operator.
CCS said the companies then used that information during negotiations with customers before all four operators eventually imposed the same surcharge.Â
Following its investigation, it imposed financial penalties totalling S$2.8 million on the four companies.
CNL and Gilmon appealed the decision in January 2023, and the Competition Appeal Board ruled in their favour in July last year.
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