The government is set to exercise the new Trade Competition Act to penalise unscrupulous fruit dealers caught underpricing Thai farm products or reneging on purchase deals.
Boonyarit Kalayanamit, director-general of the Internal Trade Department, said responsible authorities are tightening inspections on certain fruit dealers who have broken the law.
The new Trade Competition Act came into force late last year, empowering authorities to launch inspections without waiting for complaints from affected parties, as required by the previous version.
The new act also allows authorities to take legal action against offenders if they are found to have caused damage to farmers. Penalties include fines equivalent to 10% of revenue in the year the offence occurred and/or two years' imprisonment.
Mr Boonyarit said the law also empowers the department, in its capacity as the secretary to the Office of Trade Competition Commission (OTCC), to proceed with investigations and take legal action against crooked brokers to curb any further harm to farmers.
Thailand's new Trade Competition Act of 2017 was published in the Royal Gazette on July 7 and came into force 90 days later on Oct 5. The new act has entailed many significant changes, including expanding the powers of the OTCC independent from the government.
The 2017 act empowers the OTCC to impose administrative penalties, which will not require the commencement of criminal proceedings -- a substantial departure from the 1999 act. Previously, the regulator was required to pass a recommendation to the public prosecutor, who would then consider whether to commence a case. No breach of the 1999 act ever proceeded to the Criminal Court.
The OTCC will be able to impose administrative penalties in certain cases or, in the event of criminal malfeasance, the commission may request that the Office of the Attorney General prosecute the case if the public prosecutor refuses to do so.
The new act also provides a more detailed definition of a business operator with market dominance. This change will require the OTCC to set criteria to identify a market-dominant operator, including factors such as market share and turnover, and to review the definition of such an operator at least once every three years.
In addition, the new act clarifies the scope of unfair trade practices, as follows: intervening in the business operations of other operators without reasonable grounds; unfairly fixing the price levels of goods or services; unfairly setting conditions that limit the ability or opportunity of other operators to produce, trade in goods or services or procure credit; suspending, reducing or limiting the provision of goods or services; or causing damage to goods with the intention of reducing market supply to be below demand.
In a related development, Mr Boonyarit said the department is scheduled to sign a memorandum of understanding with four modern trade operators for advance fruit purchase deals totalling 50,000 tonnes worth 2.5 billion baht.
The move is intended to help stabilise produce prices and prevent possible price drops when massive supply from the annual harvest hits the market.