Act · 2022 Revised Edition · 12 parts
Competition Act
Promoting and protecting competition in marketsIn plain English
Not legal adviceThe Competition Act aims to promote and protect competition in markets in Brunei Darussalam. It sets out the functions and powers of a competition commission. Its rules on prohibited agreements, abuse of a dominant position and mergers can reach parties and actions abroad. These rules do not apply to the government, statutory bodies, or people acting for them. The minister may bring some statutory bodies within these rules by order. Agreements that improve production or distribution, or promote technical or economic progress, may qualify for a block exemption.
Summary · Drafted with AI, checked against the official text on 30 Sep 2026.
Part
Preliminary
Official textFrom Attorney General's Chambers, unchanged
This Act may be cited as the Competition Act.
The Minister may, with the approval of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan, appoint different dates for the commencement of the different Parts or provisions of this Act or for the different purposes of the same provisions.
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —
“agreement”
includes any agreement, arrangement, understanding, undertaking or promise, whether expressed or implied, written or oral;
“anticipated merger” means an arrangement that is in progress or contemplation and that, if carried into effect, will result in the occurrence of a merger referred to in section 23(2);
“authorised officer” means an authorised officer appointed under section 7;
“block exemption” has the meaning assigned to it in section 15(5);
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“block exemption order” has the meaning assigned to it in section 15(3);
“Chairman” means the Chairman of the Commission and includes any temporary Chairman of the Commission;
“Commission” means the Competition Commission of Brunei
Darussalam;
“concerted practice” means any form of coordination between undertakings which knowingly substitutes practical co-operation between them for the risks of competition, and includes any practice which involves direct or indirect contact or communication between undertakings, the object or effect of which is either —
to influence the conduct of one or more undertakings in a market; or
to disclose the course of conduct which an undertaking has decided to adopt or is contemplating to adopt in a market, in circumstances where such disclosure would not have been made under normal conditions of competition;
“consumer” means any direct or indirect user of goods or services supplied by an undertaking in the course of business, and includes another undertaking that uses the goods or services thus supplied as an input to its own business as well as a wholesaler, a retailer and a final consumer;
“Director” means the Director of the Commission appointed under section 6 and includes any person acting in that capacity;
“document” has the same meaning as in section 2 of the
Evidence Act (Chapter 108) and includes information recorded in any form;
“dominant position” means a situation in which one or more undertakings possess such significant power in a market to adjust prices or outputs or trading terms, without effective constraint from competitors or potential competitors within Brunei
Darussalam or elsewhere;
“goods” means property of every kind, whether tangible or intangible and includes —
all kinds of movable property;
Competition
buildings and other structures;
vessels and vehicles;
utilities;
minerals, trees and crops, whether on, under or attached to land or not;
animals, including fish; and
chose in action;
“individual exemption” has the same meaning assigned to it under section 13(3);
“information” includes estimates and forecasts;
“member” means a member of the Commission;
“Minister” means the Minister charged with the responsibility for general competition matters;
“party involved in a merger” means a person or an undertaking specified in section 23(2) and includes the merged entity;
“party to an anticipated merger” means a person or an undertaking which would be a person or an undertaking specified in section 23(2) if the anticipated merger were carried into effect;
“person” includes any undertaking;
“premises” does not include domestic premises unless —
they are used in connection with the affairs of an undertaking; or
documents relating to the affairs of an undertaking are kept there, but includes any vehicle;
“price” includes any form of consideration given in return for any goods or services of any kind, whether such consideration has actually been given or is advertised or stated as being required to be given in exchange for such goods or services;
“public interest consideration” means national or public security, defence and such other considerations as the Minister may, by order published in the Gazette, prescribe;
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“section 11 prohibition” means the prohibition referred to in section 11(1);
“section 21 prohibition” means the prohibition referred to in section 21(1);
“section 23 prohibition” means the prohibition referred to in section 23(1);
“service” means a service of any description whether industrial, trade, professional or otherwise;
“supply” includes —
in relation to goods, the supply and re-supply, by way of sale, exchange, lease, hire or hire-purchase of the goods; and
in relation to services, the provision by way of sale, grant or conferment of the services;
“Tribunal” means the Competition Appeal Tribunal established by section 60;
“undertaking” means any person, being an individual, a body corporate, an unincorporated body of persons or any other entity, capable of carrying on commercial or economic activities relating to goods or services.
The fact that to a limited extent the section 11 prohibition does not apply to an agreement, because of an exclusion provided by or under this
Act, does not require those provisions of the agreement to which the exclusion relates to be disregarded when considering whether the agreement infringes the prohibition for other reasons.
For the purposes of this Act, the power to require information, in relation to information recorded otherwise than in a legible form, includes the power to require a copy of it in a legible form.
Any power conferred on any person by this Act to require information includes the power to require any document which he believes may contain that information.
Competition
Part
Constitution, Functions and Powers of Commission
Part 3
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Part
Offences
Part
Competition Appeal Tribunal
Part