The legislature has passed an amendment to the Fair Trade Act that will allow authorities to set up an anti-trust fund. The fund is expected to strengthen government efforts to investigate and punish collusion.
According to the amendment passed on Tuesday, the sources of the fund will include 30% of the fines for fair trade violations, interest income, and government budget. The fund will be used as prize money for people who provide information on collusion to authorities. It will also be used to promote cooperation, investigation, and exchanges among international competition law enforcement authorities.
Ruling Kuomintang lawmaker Ting Shou-chung, who proposed the amendment, said collusion is usually conducted covertly and hard to detect unless there is information provided by insiders. He also said the prize money provision can help encourage people to blow the whistle.