Assignment

on
“Anti competitive practices prevalent in Bangladesh: A critical
analysis ”
Submitted To :
Sanjay Bisaswh
Assistant Professor
Department of Law Department
Premier University Chittagong.

Submitted By:
Umme Habiba Islam
ID: 1703610604645
LLB (Hon’s)
Batch: 36
Department of Law
Premier University Chittagong.

Date of Submission: 15-09-2020.

Introduction :

Competition law, also known as anti-trust law, is the set of legislations which
promote and maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive behavior
and arrangements among the companies in a particular economy. This law
designed to maintain market behavior by preventing anti-competitive practices  of
undertakings as well as promoting fair stable market competition. Competition law
aims at ensuring consumer welfare, interest and sound competitive market
environment by restricting anti-competitive practices like abuse of dominant
position, price setting by agreement, deterring supply, business syndicalism, and so
on. The market of Bangladesh is a bit far from competitive environment. However,
National Parliament of Bangladesh passed the desired competition law on July
2012 to prevent such malpractices. A suitable implementation framework of
competition law and a strong and independent competition commission can make
an antitrust regime more effective and dynamic in a practical sense.  The
competition act of Bangladesh mandates the establishment of Bangladesh
Competition Commission (BCC) but it is not established yet in the country. A
significant number of economies have started their competition regime and made
success stories in terms of the implementation and inducing consumer welfare. The
Government itself, consumer associations, and member of business communities
should step forward to create a competition culture in Bangladesh.
Overview of  completion policy framework in Bangladesh:

The aims and objectives of competition policies are meant to promote

competition, enhance consumer welfare, by preventing restrictive agreements or
concerted practices that distort competition in the market. Competition regimes
are vital for its development. Bangladesh, when it was separated from Pakistan in
1971, it inherited all their laws as the basis of domestic implementation. Only one
law was not notified that was Monopolies & Restrictive Trade Practices Ordinance
1970(which is the
present competition law in Pakistan).the prevalence of competition-related
problems in Bangladesh has been
widely discussed in the media. Press stories in the daily newspapers over the past
few
years have written about the existence of alleged cartels in the purchase,
distribution
and sale of several staple products such as rice, sugar, potatoes and various other
food
products including fresh vegetables. It has been claimed that these cartels may
exist in
part due to the monopsonistic market power of wholesalers who also provide
finance to
farmers, control truck transportation and provide refrigerated storage facilities.
These
kinds of press stories may have helped to strengthen support for reform, and as
such
highlight the importance of analysing and publicising the costs of anti-competitive
practices.then A draft Competition Act 2008 has been prepared by the Ministry of
Commerce and is currently being considered by Government. During the
stakeholder consultations facilitated by the Ministry of Commerce in 2008 several
business representatives indicated their concerns regarding the adoption of the
proposed draft competition bill. There were concerns that the draft bill “had been
drawn up by foreign experts”, that the bill was a copy of the Indian competition
bill, and that the consultants sought to introduce a one size fits all plan, without
regard to the level of development, legal structure or business practices within
Bangladesh. The other concern raised by stakeholders was
that the previous bill (MRTPO of 1970) itself had never been implemented because
of a
lack of capacity and skilled technical staff. Then competion commission present
the passage of competion act 2012 in the parliament of Bangladesh.  This act
replaced the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Ordinance, 1970. The
purpose of the commission is to prevent, control and eradicate collusion, monopoly
and oligopoly, combination or abuse of dominant position or activities adverse to
the competition.

The competition system in bangladesh:

The competition system in Bangladesh has
been traditionally weak and fragile. Prior to devising of the Competition Act in
2012, there were almost no policies or laws were in existence to govern market
competition and the conduct of undertakings but some Monopolies and Restrictive
Trade Practice Ordinance did exist and before the Bangladesh became
independent, it became law afterwards and has never been put to any practical
use.In consequence, the market has
always been affected adversely with a number of distortions like market
syndicates, cartels, abuse of dominant positions, unfair spiraling price hikes and so
on. As a result, such anti-competitive practices had led to endless sufferings for the
consumers and crippling overall market efficiency.

As of 21st June 2012, the Bangladesh parliament passed the Competition Act,
aimed at ensuring fair and effective competition in business practices. It is hoped
that the law will improve production and pricing efficiency, benefiting both
consumers and producers. The new act enacted to ensure a competitive
marketplace, as it states “the law aims at preventing, controlling or eliminating
anti-competitive practices relating to collusion, situations of monopoly and
oligopoly, combinations or abuse of dominant positions”. A summary of the main
provision under the law as follows:

Section 15(1) of the Act, outlawing anti-competitive agreement:

No person shall enter into any agreement/understanding/collusion, directly or

indirectly,
regarding the production, supply, distribution, storage, or acquisition of products,
which may cause an adverse effect on competition or result in monopoly or
oligopoly. An agreement shall be considered anticompetitive if it directly or
indirectly:
1. Determines purchase or sale prices
2. Results in bid rigging or collusive bidding
3. Limits or controls production, supply, markets, technical development, etc.
4. Shares the market, source of production or provision of services.

Section 15 (2) of the Act, outlawing abuse of dominant position:

No enterprise shall abuse its dominant position in the market. The following would
qualify as an abuse of dominant position:

1. Direct or indirect imposition of unfair or discriminatory prices or purchase

conditions.
2. Limitation or restriction of production of goods and technical or scientific
developments.
3. Denial of market access.
4. Imposition of acceptance of supplementary obligations at the time of
purchase.
5. Use of power to enter into or protect other relevant market.

The Section 5 of the Act mandates the creation of a Bangladesh

Competition Commission (BCC), which is responsible for implementing of
competition law and scrutinizing behavior of the undertakings competing
within the market. The Commission will be comprising by a chairperson and
a maximum of four members, its main functions including:
1. Supervising the market and taking necessary measures against
unscrupulous businesses and organizations.
2. Conducting inquiries -- upon receiving a complaint or on its own -- into
anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominant positions, collusive
practices, etc.
3. Framing rules, policies, and administrative orders relating to competition
and advising and assisting the government in their implementation.
4. Passing interim orders upon preliminary determination of anti-
competitive behavior and final orders upon conclusive determination.
Final orders might include: Refraining from the anti-competitive
behavior, Monetary penalty and Division of enterprises.
Violation of any order of the Commission will be an offence entailing a jail
term of one year or a fine of Tk 100,000 per day for every day of violation.
  

LOOpholes of  competion act:

Competition law is one of the most awaited law in bangladesh. Though the
competition law has already been passed and although it creates a mechanism to
ensure it's implementation ,But there are certain issues that comes into our concern
as there are few loopholes or we can say lack in the laws. Few of those are given
below:
1.lack of clarity:
The law is not clear about when an agreement becomes anti-competitive or its
block the path of completion of other companies. Sometimes figuring that it is
really difficult also when it becomes abusive and misuses the power of a dominant
position .This is a big loophole of competion laws.
2.time lag in establishing the commission:

About establishing a commission it is as necessary as the laws, because if there is

no commission no laws will work.And from our previous experiences we can see
that it takes a lot of time to set up or established a new commission .This time
consuming process is harmful and not effective for laws.
3.Lack of market knowledge:
In Bangladesh we have a little opportunity to learn about market
behaviour,because lack of information. In other countries we can see researche or
published materials for market behavior. But we have not that much information
about this.thats why there always exiting a threat for both consumers and
competitors .
4.Confidence:
The commission will need to overcome the common perception of regulatory
authorities as slow ,inefficient, and subject to influence .people are not going to
complaint if the standard of commission is not clear to them.its impossible to
complain  if people are not  convinced of the standard of commission. One of a
best businessman in our country syed manzur elahi  said "business people are
aware of tax and ready  to pay but they are not interested to pay when the think
about the confidence of the  commission .
5.misuse of this act:
past record indicate us that regulatory bodies of commission can be influenced by
not only political behavior but also economic factors. There always  threat or  a
fear that the act might be abusive. Just for political influences we can see many
misuses of the act and law in our country .So definitely  this is a very alarming
loophole of competion laws.
6.overlapping  functions and conflict of interests:
In commission there occur some complications of overlapping and conflict of
interest. And also because of multiple regulatory authorities  are responsible for
this. It creates uncertainty  between countries and those authorities. Because of
there is no clear  concept  of commissions region and authorities who regulates
over country. Again they both may have some interest in  some  fields which can
create conflicts.
7.conflict with competition :
Competition law and policy has an extensive interface with other government
policies. In this area as  international  trade ,investment regional development this
are often in   conflict with the objective of the competition.
8.Anonymous  force of  supply and demand determine prices:
In our country most of company has the power to control prices.they have the
monopolistic power to raise prices by reducing supply without losing the market
share to a competitor .thus,it hampers the consumers for the monopolistic act.this is
one of the big loopholes of competition laws.

  Recommended Actions for Bangladesh :

Government of Bangladesh has been adopted competition law to ensure maximum

consumer and social welfare. It is definitely one step forward in the area of
competition regime. Now it is the demand of time to take the challenges and
implement the law in more effective manner. In order to materialize the law the
following recommendation can be drawn:

1. Bangladesh competition commission should be formed as soon as possible with

necessary authority and resources.

2. Competition Authority should be transparent, free from executive and

political interference in real sense and neutral in conducting its operation.

 
3.To establish competition law properly  people need to know about those laws
consumers behaviour,organizations behavior and what is rightful  or what is wrong
. It's only possible when proper research or published materials  is available .until
then people won't understand and laws will not effective.
4.existing law and rules should be in practice otherwise there will laws but No
example of proper case. study how to make the provision of the existing laws and
rules really effective in order to ensure fair price and quality and to prevent injury
to consumers interest.
5. There should be coordination among various kinds of agencies. It can help to
remove conflicts.

6. The ministry of commerce government of Bangladesh have to monitor overall

laws and control the regulatory policies  in true sence.And a competition bill to
prevent restrictive trade practices and to promote fair competition with provision
for institutional arrangements for ensuring fair trade preventing cartels and
regulating monopolies .
7.For better experience need a better vision that means our government should
concern other countries competition law and there act.this knowledge will help to
make some better laws with fewer bugs.
8. We should conduct researches and representatives opinion surveys to find out
the loopholes and inadequacies of our existing laws that will prevent safeguarding
the right of the consumers produce for obtaining value for money.
9.And if there is no such  regime  exists then the researchers should focus on what
should be needed to establish such a regime.
10. We should make the respective regulatory that is truly independent and
impartial.
11. Anti-trust regulatory should be needed to control the monopolistic behavior of
the organization for the betterment of consumers.
12.we should develop a legal framework against acquiring and abusing dominant
position .

 Anti competitive practice prevalent in bangladesh:

CUTS (2006) argues in their paper entitled “Promoting competition policy & law
in Bangladesh a civil society perspective” that anti-competitive business practices
are prevailing in the market due to the lack of effective competitive regime. This
environment is greatly affecting consumer welfare and interest. Politics business
nexus, market syndicates, hoarding goods and commodities for manipulating price,
collusive agreement, and collective price fixing, black markets of commodities,
restrictive trading agreements, and abuse of dominant position,
bid rigging, discriminatory and exclusive dealing is prevailing in Bangladesh. State
dailies publish quite often news on price hike of several commodities, consumers
also demand that scrupulous business persons and firms are responsible for unusual
price hike but it is hard to prove with evidence.

However, In 2005 Bangladesh Enterprise Institute was conducted a survey on

competition in Bangladesh. The main objectives was to measure the perception
of three key stakeholder e.g. Policy makers, business community, and consumer.
Each questionnaire arranged around thirty questions, most of the questions were in
multiple-choice but respondent has the option to choose more than one option.
They ranked their answer within a range despite limitations in the sample selection
methodology and size some general inferences can be drawn. The result is that 100
percent of the respondent believed that anti-competitive practices are
prevailing in Bangladesh

65 percent policy makers indicate collective price fixing as the major anti-
competitive practice, monopoly and bid rigging (both 48%), discriminatory
dealings (39%), and entry barriers (30%) are followed. On the other hand,
business community considers resale price maintenance as the most t anti-
competitive practice; exclusive dealings and discriminatory dealings are as
followed (CUTS, 2006).

In addition, according to The global competitiveness report of world Economic

Forum Bangladesh is continuously losing its competitiveness, In 2006-2007 its
global competitiveness index (GCI) rank was 92th among 122 countries its score
was 3.7, In 2011-2012 Bangladesh placed GCI rank 108th among 142 countries, it
means that the economy is losing its competitiveness. In 2012-13 a single year
Bangladesh drop its GCI rank significantly from 108th to 118th. It
losses10 ranks in a single year. So it reveals that Bangladesh is going to be far
from competitiveness.
Critically analysis: 

In bangladesh ,we find some scope of anti-competitive practice but this practice
have some criticism.  In our country there are many form of anti competitive
behavior in the different sense such as:

•monopoly
•abuse of dominant position
•Horizental rescriptive practice
•vertical restrictive practice
•unfair trade practice
 

Monopoly:       monopoly is a form of a market where there is a single seller selling

a particular  commodity for which there are no close substitutes.in the present
situation in bangladesh there is not the existence of monopoly in the market field .
But existence of monopoly is better replace of fair market in bangladesh. A free
market economy ensures a competitive market where the rights of buyers as well
as sellers are protected. A market will be treated as free market when it fulfills the
following conditions -- price of the product will be fixed through bargaining, there
will no action taken by anybody to control demand and supply, there will no action
taken by government to fix prices, etc.the first condition of free market economy is
missing in our market place.Because  the sellers are united, and they have several
committees and cooperatives or syndicates. Instead of price fixing through buyer/
seller bargaining, syndicate leaders fix prices to maximise their profit. On the other
hand, buyers are scattered. They do not have any platform to counter the syndicates
or sellers' forums. The government also does not try to counter this syndication,
and, unfortunately, does not recognise the existence of such syndicates.
Bangladesh is a so-called democratic country. During the election, held every five
years, political parties take commissions from these business communities to meet
the election expenditure of the party. As a result, after winning the election, they
never try to stop such syndication of the sellers.
The second most important condition of free market economy is that no group will
interfere in controlling demand and supply. But we see that business syndicates
control the supply and create an artificial crisis in the market to increase prices of
the commodities. As a result, inflation takes place, which makes people's lives
difficult. The government never tries to balance the supply of goods in the market
through its own departments, like TCB and others.
The third condition of free market economy is that the government never interferes
in price fixation. Our past governments had efficiently played this role.
After considering all of the above factors, it is quite clear that we are not enjoying
the facilities of free market economy. We are being exploited in the name of free
market. Absolute monopoly may be better than this environment, because one
group controls a sector in the monopoly market. After making their targeted profit
they may reduce market price of that particular product.

Abuse of dominance: Dominance means having Substantial market power.when

one firm acts as a price setter and faces  and smaller price taking firms it is called a
dominant firm.which typically has a large market share. Abuse of dominance
occurs when a firm in a dominant position engages  in practices  that are aimed at
stifling the level of competition in the market such practice are prohibited by
competition law. The concern is not on dominance, as this may be a result of legal
business advantages,but the abuse of such dominance to negatively affect
competion in  the market.  We find the abuse of dominant position in our market
place . There are two categories abuse of dominance practice :

•exploitative practice :where a firm in a dominant position engages in practices that

are intended to gain profits by exploiting customers or its competitors  .those
practice where a firm take advantage of its market power in the following:
       • excessive pricing:  -when a firm in a dominant position takes advantage of
the absence of competion by charging excessively high prices compared to the
situation that would have prevailed under conditions of competion. This abuse may
be difficult to prove it is prohibited by many competition law like bangladesh.
Excessive pricing is anticompetitive as it prevents downstream firms from entering
the industry and pricing their products within the means of the consumer. But this
practice is bad practice  for our country .
•Price discrimination: 
Price discrimination is a strategy that companies use to charge different prices for
the same goods or services to different customers. Price discrimination is most
valuable when separating the customer markets is more profitable than keeping the
markets combined. Price discrimination occurs when identical goods or services
are sold at different prices from the same provider. There are three types of price
discrimination:

First degree – the seller must know the absolute maximum price that every
consumer is willing to pay.
Second degree – the price of the good or service varies according to quantity
demanded.
Third degree – the price of the good or service varies by attributes such as location,
age, sex, and economic status.
The purpose of price discrimination is to capture the market’s consumer surplus.
Price discrimination allows the seller to generate the most revenue possible for a
good or service. There are some disadvantages of price discrimination
•Higher prices for some. Under price discrimination: some consumers will end up
paying higher prices (e.g. people who have to travel at busy times). These higher
prices are likely to be allocatively inefficient because P > MC.

•Decline in consumer surplus.:Price discrimination enables a transfer of money

from consumers to firms – contributing to increased inequality.

•Potentially unfair: Those who pay higher prices may not be the poorest. For
example, adults paying full price could be unemployed, senior citizens can be very
well off.

•Administration costs: There will be administration costs in separating the markets,

which could lead to higher prices.

Predatory pricing: 
 Accoding to competition act 2012 Predatory price means the sale of goods or
provision of service at a price which is below the cost of production of goods or
provision of services with a view to reduce or eliminate competition.
If predatory pricing – a price war – eventually results in competitors being kicked
out and an increase in monopoly power, that is bad for the consumer. It will lead to
abnormally-high prices in the long term as well as a lack of choice.

However, predatory pricing should not be confused with a fiercely-competitive

market. Price wars are great for consumers if all the players survive.
Predatory pricing is deemed illegal and anti-competitive in many countries. For
example, in bangladesh  those that engage in predatory pricing face one year
penalty . Allegations of wrongdoing are often hard to prove, as firms can claim
they were merely trying to be competitive with their pricing, rather than
deliberately acting to drive out their competition.
predatory pricing leads to an increase in monopoly power, then it will harm the
public interest because it leads to higher prices in the long term.
Predatory pricing is the illegal act of setting prices low in an attempt to eliminate
the competition. Predatory pricing violates antitrust law, as it makes markets more
vulnerable to a monopoly.
So this practice is bad practice for our country.

Tie -ins: A tie-in falls under abuse of dominance where a firm makes the sale of
one good to customers become conditional upon the purchase of a second good
.such  behaviour can only be considered abusive if the selling firm is dominant in
the sell of the tying good and the buying firm was not in need of the tied goods ,or
would have preferred buying it elsewhere. There is some significant competition in
the tied good. The tie -in arrangement would be made as a gimmick to market the
tied good and reap super normal profits. Such a scheme imposes additional costs
on downstream firms, which may negatively affect the competitiveness of the
pricing of the end products.

Exclusionary practice :this refers to practices by a firm in a dominant position

intended to suppress competition or to drive competitors out of the market . This
can be done through the following ways:
•refusal to deal: this refers to a practice where a firm in a dominant position, refuse
to supply goods to a dealer without justifiable reason. A refusal to deal can be an
agreement between competing companies to boycott another company by refusing
to do business with them.example if one business refuse to do business with
another company customer or supplier unless they agree to cease business to
another company this agreement would be a refusal to deal. A refusal to deal is  a
violation of the  antitrust laws because it harms the boycotted business by cutting
them off from a facility product supply or market.by harming the boycott business
in this way the competing business controls or the monopolises the  market 
unreasonably restricting competition. 
Boycotts are illegal  agreements between a group of businesses to stop using a
company's product or services in order to negatively affect their ability to compete
in a market.  A business has every right to choose whom to do business with. There
is nothing illegal about making prudent product choices. It becomes illegal when it
is a concerted and deliberate group effort to kick one company to the curb.

Horizental restrictive: these are agreements entered into by firms who happen to be
competitor. They are  agreements among firms  in The same line of business.
These agreements are  also referred to as cartel agreement.  Horizental restrictive
are regarded as the most harmful to competition and can take place through the
following forms:
•Price fixing :

Price fixing is an  horizontal agreement  among competitors that raises, lowers, or
stabilizes prices or competitive terms. Generally, the antitrust laws require that
each company establish prices and other terms on its own, without agreeing with a
competitor. When consumers make choices about what products and services to
buy, they expect that the price has been determined freely on the basis of supply
and demand, not by an agreement among competitors. When competitors agree to
restrict competition, the result is often higher prices. Accordingly, price fixing is a
major concern of government antitrust enforcement. A plain agreement among
competitors to fix prices is almost always illegal, whether prices are fixed at a
minimum, maximum, or within some range. Illegal price fixing occurs whenever
two or more competitors agree to take actions that have the effect of raising,
lowering or stabilizing the price of any product or service without any legitimate
justification. It sounds confusing, but it is really quite simple. Companies who
intentionally engage in price fixing do so primarily to manipulate prices to cause
an unfair advantage. This price manipulation creates a situation where, in many
cases, competitors set same prices on their products and it negatively affects others
in the marketplace. Price fixing problem existence in our market field. It is another
bad practice anti competitive behavior in bangladesh.

  Bid rigging is an illegal practice in which competing parties collude to determine

the winner of a bidding process. Bid rigging is a form of anticompetitive collusion
and is an act of market manipulation; when bidders coordinate, it undermines the
bidding process and can result in a rigged price that is higher than what might have
resulted from a free market, competitive bidding process. Bid rigging can be
harmful to consumers and taxpayers who may be forced to bear the cost of higher
prices and procurement costs.
Bid rigging practices can be present in an industry where business contracts are
awarded through the process of soliciting competitive bids. As such, bid rigging
can occur in auctions for cars and homes, construction projects, and government
procurement contracts. Although bid rigging can take many different forms, one of
the most common practices of bid rigging occurs when companies decide in
advance who will win a bidding process. Some forms of bid rigging can be
categorized more broadly:

Bid rotation: Bid rotation is a form of market allocation and occurs when bidding
companies take turns at being the winning bidder.
Bid suppression: Bid suppression occurs when one (or more) bidder(s) sit out of a
bidding process so another party is guaranteed to win a bidding process.
Complementary bidding: Complementary bidding occurs when companies
intentionally submit uncompetitive bids as a way of guaranteeing that their bid is
not selected and helping to ensure that another, preselected bidder is chosen. This
is also called courtesy bidding or cover bidding.
Phantom bidding: Phantom bidding is employed in auctions as a way of
compelling legitimate bidders to bid higher than they normally would.
Buyback: Buyback is a fraudulent practice used in no-reserve auctions where the
seller of an item buys the auction item to prevent it from selling at too low a price.
It is another bad practice  in bangladesh market field.

Group boycott:
In competition law, a group boycott is a type of secondary boycott in which two or
more competitors in a relevant market refuse to conduct business with a firm
unless the firm agrees to cease doing business with an actual or potential
competitor of the firms conducting the boycott. It is a form of refusal to deal, and
can be a method of shutting a competitor out of a market, or preventing entry of a
new firm into a market.
Any company may, on its own, refuse to do business with another firm, but an
agreement among competitors not to do business with targeted individuals or
businesses may be an illegal boycott, especially if the group of competitors
working together has market power. For instance, a group boycott may be used to
implement an illegal price-fixing agreement. In this scenario, the competitors agree
not to do business with others except on agreed-upon terms, typically with the
result of raising prices. Group boycott is bad behavior which existence we find in
our market place.

Market division :
Market division or allocation schemes are agreements in which competitors divide
markets among themselves. In such schemes, competing firms allocate specific
customers or types of customers, products, or territories among themselves. For
example, one competitor will be allowed to sell to, or bid on contracts let by,
certain customers or types of customers. In return, he or she will not sell to, or bid
on contracts let by, customers allocated to the other competitors. In other schemes,
competitors agree to sell only to customers in certain geographic areas and refuse
to sell to, or quote intentionally high prices to, customers in geographic areas
allocated to conspirator companies.this practice is negatively impact of our market
field.

Vertical restrictive practice:

a vertical agreement is made between a seller and a buyer in where a retailer can
buy products from one manufacturer but in the agreement is restricted from buying
from a competing manufacture. cause, or are likely to cause, an AAEC in India.
The types of vertical restraints expressly identified in the Competition Act include:
Resale price maintenance :
Resale price maintenance is a practice in which a manufacturer fixes the price for
the resale of a brand product and the retailer is not allowed to sell it lower
price.Manufacturers use resale price maintenance to more directly prevent inter-
retailer price competition.Resale price maintenance was an agreement between
suppliers or manufacturers and retailers, restricting the price that retailers can ask
for a product or service.but It is illegal for suppliers to:put pressure on businesses
to charge their recommended retail price or any other set price, for example by
threatening to stop supplying to the reseller .
stop resellers from advertising, displaying or selling goods from the supplier below
a specified price.
It is also illegal for resellers to ask their suppliers to use recommended price lists to
stop competitors from discounting. In most cases, a supplier may specify a
maximum price for retail.
Tied selling: Tied selling is the illegal practice of a company providing a product
or service on the condition that a customer purchases some other product or
service. It is frequently used in reference to banks and is sometimes referred to as
coercive tied selling. Tied selling is related to the practice of "tying," the often-
illegal arrangement where, in order to buy one product, the consumer must
purchase another product that exists in a separate market.

Non- Price predation: when a firm in a dominant position engages in behaviour

that is meant to increase the cost of doing business for its rival smaller firm .
Examples include paying higher wages than normal and then ensuring that the
smaller firm is forced to pay the same rate possibly through labour unions
strategically advertising to such a degree that it raises sunk  cost investment for
small firms and potential entrants or engaging the firm in litigation with no hope of
winning but to increase it costs such action would be ensure to discourage entry
and maintain dominance.

Exclusive dealing agreement:

An exclusive dealing contract is an undertaking between a producer and a dealer in
which the dealer agrees to only make purchases from the producer and is
prohibited from dealing with makers of competing products. In a few cases, this
agreement may also favor the dealer, because it limits the number of dealers to
whom the producer may sell products. Essentially, in an exclusive dealing
agreement, one or both of these happen:

A manufacturer agrees to sell a specified quantity of its goods or services to a

particular dealer.
A dealer agrees to purchase a specified quantity of goods or services from a
particular manufacturer.

Exclusive dealing agreements  arise when firms undertake to deal with no one else
except the party to the agreement or other firms can only be dealt with once the
party to the agreement has been supplied, in which case the dealing will be
conditional upon any excess supply remaining. Such agreements tend to  have
adverse effect on compitition. Since they may restrict the access of upstream rivals
to distributors.  Rivals may be foreclosed from the market altogether or more
commonly, forced to use higher cost or less effective,method  to bring their
products to market. In either case ,competition can be reduced through either
reducing the number of manufacturers serving the market or by artificially raising
the costs of some manufacturers. 
Unfair trade practice:
An unfair trade practice refers to that malpractice of a trader that is unethical or
fraudulent. These practices cause an
inconvenience or grievance to consumers.
The following practices fall under unfair trade practice:

1. An oral or written statement or visible representation that:

– Falsely represents a good or service to be of a particular standard, quality, grade

and so on.

– Falsely represents any re-built, second-hand, reconditioned, renovated or old

goods as new.

– Represents that a good or service has sponsorship, approval, uses, benefits and so
on which they do not have. The same could apply to the seller or service provider.

– Makes a misleading or false representation regarding the need and usefulness of

any good or service.

– Provides to the public any warranty or guarantee of the performance of the length
of the life of the product. A service can be continued till deemed satisfactory.

– Gives a misleading image of the good, service or trade like the price of the
product.

For the above clauses, any statement made via expression by sellers on the wrapper
or container of the item can qualify for unfair trade practice.  As a unfair trade
practice we can see that there exists also some bad practice effect of competitive
practice such as :
Unfair or discriminatory slander: Unfair competition is a term and a branch of
intellectual property law that applies to dishonest or fraudulent rivalry in trade and
commerce. Unfair competition addresses circumstances where consumers have
been misled, or deceptive trade practices, as well as practices designed to restrict or
alter a company's revenue. In all cases, the activity can legally give rise to a tort
action. That is, the wrongful act is such that the perpetrator can and should be held
civilly liable in a court of law.

Misleading advertising:

advertising is seen as misleading if it involves false, misleading or deceptive

information that is likely to cause the average consumer to act in a way they might
otherwise not.  Advertising may also be considered misleading if important
information that the average consumer needs to make an informed decision is left
out.  Misleading advertising covers claims made directly to consumers by
manufacturers, distributors and retailers, as well as in advertisements, catalogues,
websites etc.
Examples of misleading advertising
A false claim about the characteristics of the goods or service, e.g. – a product is a
different colour, size or weight to what is advertised.

The price or way the price is calculated is misrepresented, e.g. – products are
advertised at sale prices, but turn out not to be.

The way the goods or service are supplied is misrepresented, e.g. – free delivery is
advertised, but the delivery actually involves some sort of fee or charge.

Any aspect about the advertiser is misrepresented, e.g. – the business is presented
as being a member of a trade association, when they are actually not.

The advertisement creates a false impression about a product or service, even if the
information given is correct
.
Any important information is hidden or left out.

False description of foods:

  in recent years, there have been media reports of food products with false
description. Some examples were counterfeit rice, counterfeit oranges, fake
crocodile meat, and horse meat sold as beef.
This can be regard as the bad practice in case of certain trade practice for
competition in the circumstances of dominance.  

DECEPTIVE TRADE PRACTICE:

Whenever a business or an individual engages in activity that is likely to mislead
the public may be considered a “deceptive trade practice”.  Deceptive trade
practices are prohibited due to the negative effects they have on consumers and the
general public.  Some other examples of activities that would be considered
deceptive trade practices may include:

Passing off goods or services as those of another.

Causing a likelihood of misunderstanding or confusion regarding the source,
certification, or approval of goods or services.

Using deceptive designations or representations of the geographic origin of

goods/services
Representing that the goods or services have ingredients, characteristics, uses,
qualities, or benefits that they do not actually have

Claiming that goods are new or original if they are used, second-hand, altered, or
deteriorated

Representing that certain goods or services are of a certain quality, grade, standard,
model, or style, when they are of another

Misrepresenting the goods, services, or business of another entity through the use
of misleading facts.
Advertising products with the intent to sell them at a different price or quantity
than advertised (for example, price reductions)

Thus, the majority of deceptive trade practices are connected with the provision of
goods and services.
Unconsciousable contract:

An unconscionable contract is one that is so one-sided that it is unfair to one party

and therefore unenforceable under law. It is a type of contract that leaves one party
with no real, meaningful choice, usually due to major differences in bargaining
power between the parties.
In a lawsuit, if the court finds a contract to be unconscionable, they will typically
declare the contract to be void. No damages award or specific performance will be
issued, but instead the parties will be released from their contract obligations.

Pyramid selling scheme:

A pyramid scheme is a sketchy and unsustainable business model, where a few
top-level members recruit newer members, who pay upfront costs up the chain, to
those who enrolled them. As newer members in turn recruit underlings of their
own, a portion of the subsequent fees they receive is also kicked up the chain.
Often called "pyramid scams," these operations are illegal in some countries.
Pyramid schemes are not only illegal; they are a waste of money and time. 
Because pyramid schemes rely on recruitment of new members to bring in money,
the schemes often collapse when the pool of potential recruits dries up (market
saturation).  When the plan collapses, most people, except the few at the top of the
pyramid, lose their money.

Conclusion:
Until today, about 120 countries around the world have competition law systems
and many observers feel that it is now an inevitable necessity for Bangladesh to
follow suit, especially given the country’s infamous record of anti-competitive
cartels, hoarding, black marketing of commodities, and other anti-competitive
practices. However, implementation and execution of law have always been
challenging for Bangladesh and if this trend continues, the market will remain
unstable, small enterprises and potential new entrants will encounter obstacles
and threats in entering into the market, thus the competition of the market will be
distorted. In addition, the basic rights of consumers and an absence of fair
competition will become detrimental for both the economy and consumers.
Irrespective of the reforms and the establishment of the commission, Bangladesh is
still possessing weak competition regime, which hindered the efficiency gains, and
as a weak competition regime the interest of consumers is totally ignored. For
Bangladesh, setting up an effective regime would be challenging and for this it
would require, legal and regulatory reforms, implementation of rule of law, an
independent Judicial system, and the development of civil society group is an
inevitable necessity in protecting the consumers’ interest, as they have an
important role to play in raising consciousness , regarding vices of anticompetitive
practices, education, media and social organization have a role to play in
mobilizing a society for an appropriate competitive regime, and most importantly
further deregulation and liberalization of the domestic economy. Furthermore,
competition policy is not a solution for promoting competitiveness, there are some
other requirements as well, such as human capital, institutional infrastructure,
ethical business codes and commitment to good governance. It is now, obvious that
a competition act can be crucial for effective competitive constraints, can be a
useful tool for fostering healthcompetition, but it is unquestionably depending on a
strong, neutral, transparent, skilled and committed oversight commission. 
 Issue and Challenges of ensuring food safety in Bangladesh :

Food safety is about handling, storing and preparing food to prevent infection and
help to make sure that our food keeps enough nutrients for us to have a healthy
diet. Unsafe food and water means that it has been exposed to dirt and germs
which can cause infections and diseases such as diarrhoea, meningitis, etc.

Food safety threats in Bangladesh are arsenic in food, adulterated food, genetically
modified food, environment pollutants in food, human-induced food adulteration
during farm production, industrial production, marketing, and street food vending.
Numerous food processors are producing, processing and preparing foodstuffs in
serious unhygienic environments. Food adulteration is a growing problem in
Bangladesh as large numbers of consumers have become victims of consuming
adulterated foods. The newspapers have out and out conferred it, as the ‘silent
killer’.

Unfortunately the present system of prevention of food adulteration cannot curb

the evil activities of various types of common adulteration and malpractices openly
seen in Bangladesh because there is no surveillance programme for prevention of
food adulteration. It is commonly accepted that a proper and effective regulatory
framework should be based on transparency and accountability.

Bangladesh has strong regulatory framework of food safety but it suffers from very
poor implementation of those instruments. We have very good laws but
unfortunately our institutional sets up are not strong enough to apply those laws.
Challenges of ensuring food safety in Bangladesh can be characterized as follows:

a) Poor implementation backbone,

b) Defective legislations and lack of legislative wisdom and prudence.

d)  Absence of effective judicial activism,

e) Pervasive corruptions at every level of state life and lack of political

commitment.

F) a general  lack of public awareness about the prevailing laws ensuring food
safety.

Food safety act 2013 face some challenges which is given in below