Trade competition complaints to be heard

Viboonlasana Ruamraksa, director-general of the Internal Trade Department, said last week that this case is expected to be finalised soon as it has been under investigation for almost 10 years.
The department will propose to Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom to chair the Trade Competition Commission meeting early next month to judge the case.
AP Honda was sued by Kawasaki and other dealers for pressuring its sales agents to carry Honda motorcycles exclusively. The case began in 2001.
The commission will also give a preliminary conclusion in its probe into a complaint that the maker of the M-150 energy drink forbade its retailers to sell other energy drinks such as Carabao Daeng. If the commission finds grounds to believe M-150 is guilty, the case will be investigated further.
The commission will also review a complaint from Big C that Tesco used unfair trade practices to woo Big C customers to Tesco Lotus stores. The case has been investigated since June and should be wrapped up soon.
Big C Supercenter and the local operator of Carrefour hypermarkets, Cencar Co, charged Ek-Chai Distribution System Co, the operator of the Tesco Lotus superstore chain, of practising unfair trade by using marketing gimmicks to expand its customer base and revenue.
Another case is whether Thai Beverage, in marketing its Archa beer, has violated the Product and Service Price Act, as claimed by Singha beer agents. The law bans business operators from quoting too-high or too-low prices for their products.