On Antitrust Laws And Regulations Of Loyalty Discount

Loyalty discount behavior originated in Europe and the United States,it refers to when the customer's purchase reaches a specific condition,the company promised to provide certain discounts.In today's increasingly fierce market competition,companies often adopt special price competition methods to increase sales and maintain market advantages.Loyalty discounts are one of them.Generally speaking,companies increase sales,improve efficiency,and consume by providing discounts.The discount can also be enjoyed at low prices,and loyalty discounts are usually conducive to competition.However,if the dominant enterprises with market dominance aim to achieve the purpose of strengthening market forces and gaining monopoly profits through the implementation of discounted behaviors,and the behavior also objectively causes adverse effects of crowding out other competitors,damaging competition and consumer interests,Loyalty discounts must be interfered with by competition law enforcement agencies.The existing laws and regulations in China have few provisions concerning loyalty discount behavior,and they are also included in the review framework of abuse of market dominance in law enforcement practice.Article 17 of the"Anti-Monopoly Law" in China is a clause on abuse of market dominance.It explicitly prohibits abuses such as tying,predatory pricing,and price discrimination,because loyalty discounting is also a kind of unilateral corporate behavior.Therefore,we It can be argued that Article 17 of the "Anti-Monopoly Law" has made principle provisions on loyalty discount behavior.In addition,the "Anti-price Monopoly Regulations" promulgated by the National Development and Reform Commission and the "Prohibition of Abuse of Market Dominant Positions" promulgated by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce have provisions concerning price discount behavior,but the provisions are too principled and lack of action.Sex,the role of regulating loyalty discount behavior is limited.In November 2016,the State Administration for Industry and Commerce identified the loyalty discount behavior for the first time in the punishment decision issued by Tetra Pak in its abuse of market dominance status.This is the first case in China's antitrust enforcement practice.Discount behavior case.The Directorate of Industry and Commerce used the analytical framework of abuse of dominant market position to examine Te Loo's loyalty discount behavior,first defining the relevant market scope of Tetra Pak's misuse of abuse,and then determining whether Tetra Pak had market power in the relevant market where discount behavior was implemented.Status,finally integrated multiple factors to measure the anti-competitive behavior of loyalty discount behavior.In the process of reviewing loyalty discount behavior,SAIC borrowed from the EU's"equal efficiency competitors" measurement standard and comprehensively considered the positive and negative effects of the behavior,and finally determined that the loyalty discount behavior implemented by Tetra Pak was anti-competitive.Illegal acts.The case of Lile has certain role in the investigation of related cases.However,given that China is a statutory country,the reference role of the case is very limited,and there is still uncertainty in the regulation of loyalty discount behavior in China,the principle of identification is not uniform,and the standard of illegal judgment is fuzzy.A series of questions.Therefore,in order to better regulate the behavior of loyalty discounts,relevant institutions in China should issue relevant implementation rules and guidelines as soon as possible to further promote the development of China's "anti-monopoly law." On the basis of determining the nature of loyalty discount behaviors,we can apply the "effects impact principle" as a review principle for loyalty discount behaviors,and comprehensively assess its positive impact and negative influence on the competitive environment,other market operators,and consumers,and As a basis for determining the illegality of the act,in addition,the economic models applicable to the "equally-competitive competitors" measurement standard and the "price-cost test" analysis method provide data support for assessing the anti-competitiveness of loyalty discount behavior;then we should also consider Reasonable enterprise defense reasons,such as efficiency defense and defense to meet the needs of competition,it should be noted that the defense can only be used as a factor to determine whether the loyalty discount behavior is illegal,rather than a decisive factor;Finally,according to needs,can be loyalty discount behavior The establishment of a corresponding safe harbor system is aimed at improving law enforcement efficiency and enhancing the predictability of corporate behavior.