Journal Name: Nagoya University Asian Law Bulletin

Volume Number: 9

Abstract:

National competition laws have been introduced in most of the ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) Member States in the last two decades, many of which are based on the European competition law framework, even though many of these transplant jurisdictions have vastly different socio-economic and political landscapes. It should be noted that competition law in ASEAN only exists at the national level – in contrast with the legal model in Europe, where competition laws exist for at a regional as well as at a national level. This paper will provide an overview of the regional competition law framework in the ASEAN Economic Community and explain how the national competition law frameworks of each ASEAN Member State have implemented these non-binding regional guidelines in their national competition law frameworks, focusing on particular on the prohibition against conduct that amounts to an abuse of dominance. It will illustrate how a single European competition law concept has been enacted and adapted in different ways in individual ASEAN Member States despite the existence of regional guidelines which seek to achieve regional convergence in this field of economic law.