THE Malaysian Competition Commission (MyCC) has denied that it is probing certain politicians in connection with cartels in the poultry industry.

MyCC CEO Iskandar Ismail said its ongoing investigation is focused only on a group of poultry industry players, whose actions may raise concern under the Competition Act 2010.

“The claim that the commission is investigating certain politicians is mere speculation.”

There is also confusion among the public on the “cartel” definition under the Competition Act 2010, he added.

“A cartel is formed through a confidential agreement between competitors in the same market. Before a cartel is created, there must be at least two competitors who agree to not compete with each other in the related market.

“Usually, this group will have agreed, among other things, to fix the products at the same price or divide their market or limit production.”

Iskandar said a cartel is not a monopoly, as a monopoly is an enterprise that has full control of a product or service.

“If there is more than one player in the market, one or more than one player can be in a dominant position if it holds about 60% of the market. Therefore, trying to equate a cartel and a monopoly is completely wrong.”

He said MyCC hopes that the public and media understand the complexity of the investigation, which involves several players in the supply chain.

“A thorough investigation is needed and it may take time.

“We encourage those who think that they are involved in cartel practices in the poultry industry to come forward to apply for leniency under section 41 of the Competition Act 2010 before they are investigated.”

Local media earlier reported that cartels continue to dominate the poultry industry due to political interference.

It also revealed that the cartels control the daily market of 1.5 million chickens, which is 70% of the total 2.2 million chickens sold daily nationwide. – Bernama, April 29, 2022.