'Toothless tigers' slammed over oil prices

Lawmakers hit out at Competition Commission chairwoman Anna Wu Hung-yuk and Secretary for the Environment Wong Kam-sing as "toothless tigers" for failing to lower oil prices in Hong Kong.

In yesterday's Legislative Council panel meeting on economic development, lawmakers from across the political spectrum questioned the government on why retail petrol prices tend to rise quickly but drop slowly in Hong Kong even though international prices have plunged significantly amid the pandemic.

The Federation of Trade Unions' Michael Luk Chung-hung called the competition watchdog a "toothless tiger" in its investigation of whether Hong Kong's five oil companies are engaged in price-fixing.

The Civic Party's Jeremy Tam Man-ho echoed similar concerns, saying the prices of two oil companies were the same in nine out of the recent 14 days, while prices of two other firms differed by just a cent.

The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong's Holden Chow Ho-ding requested that the Environment Bureau cooperate with the watchdog in the investigation and share any relevant information.

Wu, in her last Legco appearance as commission chief, said the watchdog should be given more power to collect evidence when investigating the industry.

She said the commission had been previously looking into the issue of retail prices and that it could only reach a fair conclusion if granted more powers.

The commission carried out a study on the auto-fuel market in 2017, Wu said, but some companies refused to provide information, saying it was sensitive.

One company even asked the commission for preapproval of its report.

"I don't know whether the government has the same difficulty, but I feel that the government can get much more information than us," Wu said.

The Liberal Party's Felix Chung Kwok-pan, who chairs the panel, said it appeared like the government was speaking for the oil companies.

But environment chief Wong disagreed, saying he had previously urged oil firms to adjust the prices. And, he added, they responded by reducing prices "a dozen times" in the past few months.

Undersecretary for the environment Tse Chin-wan said prices in Hong Kong have already come down more than in Singapore since the plunge in international prices.

Meanwhile, the government has selected barrister Samuel Chan Ka-yan to succeed Wu as the watchdog's chairman from Thursday.

Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau Tang-wah said Chan has "a wealth of experience in public services, particularly in promoting consumer interests and competition." Wu said she felt "privileged and honored" to serve as part of the watchdog since 2013.

"It was an extremely challenging yet rewarding experience from seeing the introduction of the cross-sector competition regime to the legislation coming into full action, with effects seen across the community," she said.

Three members will also leave the commission - telecommunications veteran Anthony William Seeto Yiu-wai, economics professor Suen Wing-chuen and legislator Dennis Kwok Wing-hang.

Four new members have been appointed to begin their two-year terms from Friday - Vincent Lau Kin-nang, Patrick Law Fu-yuen, Jimmy Ng Wing-ka and Anna Wong Wai-kwan.

sophie.hui@singtaonewscorp.com