a tripartite report - Unctad

More documents

Recommendations

Info

ZAMBIA “horizontal agreement” means an agreement between enterprises each of which operates, for the purpose of the agreement, at the same level of the market and would normally be actual or potential competitors in that market; “market” in relation to any goods or services, includes a market for those goods or services and other goods or services that are substitutable for, or otherwise competitive with, the goods or services; “merger” has the meaning assigned to it in section twenty-four; “per se” in relation to a prohibited practice, means a practice which is prohibited in all circumstances so that it is not necessary for the Commission to demonstrate that it has anticompetitive effects; “professional association” means the controlling body established by, or registered under, any law, or recognized by “regulator” means a regulatory body or agency, or a government department that exercises functions of prudential, technical or economic regulation on the basis of statutory powers; “statutory monopoly” means a commercial undertaking or an activity conducted by an entity, whether or not owned wholly or partly by the State, on the basis of statutory provisions that preclude other entities from conducting the same activity; “undertaking” means a commitment, promise or other future conduct that a person or enterprise provides to the Commission in order to address any concern raised by the Commission; and “vertical agreement” means an agreement between enterprises each of which operates, for the purposes of the agreement, at a different level of the production or distribution chain and relates to the conditions under which the parties may purchase, sell or resell certain goods or services. Source: Competition and Consumer Protection Act, 2010. competition terms will go a long way in resolving some of the implementation problems experienced by the ZCC that were enunciated by the former Commission’s competition practitioners, particularly problems that were encountered in the interpretation of terms such as ‘concerted practice’ and ‘vertical agreements’, and the treatment of practices associated with those terms. tant in the exchange of information cooperation with other competition authorities. Zambia cooperates with all competition authorities in the SADC and COMESA regions in exchange of information on the implementation of competition policy and law, and that cooperation had been hampered, and continues to be hampered, by the lack of le- formation. 123 Act is comprehensive enough. On one hand it includes intermediary users of raw materials, for the purposes of restrictive business and anticompeti- 109 tive trade practices, and thus protects small and medium-sized undertakings from the abuses of larger enterprises. On the other hand it is limited ations other hand for the purposes of restrictive business and anticompetitive trade practices. It is however noted that some stakeholders in Zam- limited. 124 correctly in the meaning contemplated in the Act, as a commitment or promise provided to the Commission by a person or enterprise to address any competition concern raised by the Commission, a commercial enterprise in some other competition laws in the region, such as those of Namibia, Zimbabwe, and COMESA 125 . This might therefore confuse the use of the term in the Commission’s cooperation arrangements with other competition authorities in the region. It is however not being Act should be changed in line with some competition legislations in the region. Zambia has enforced ZAMBIA
110 VOLUNTARY PEER REVIEW OF CLP: A TRIPARTITE REPORT ON THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA – ZAMBIA – ZIMBABWE of terms in the new Act, including that of ‘undertaking’, must have been tested over time, either in Zambia itself or in other jurisdictions with longer experiences, as to stand up to challenges in law courts. On the other hand, the other jurisdictions ly from Zambia have relatively shorter competition law enforcement experiences. It is also noted that regarding commercial entities as ‘enterprises’ as is done in the Zambian Act is in conformity with the UNCTAD Model Law 126 . There could however be confusion in Zambia over since the same word is used differently in another to mean “a commercial undertaking or an activity conducted by an entity …”. The word ‘undertaking’ terprise, and not to mean “a commitment, promise or other future conduct that a person or enterprise provides to the Commission in order to address any concern raised by the Commission”. It is recommended that the apparent confusion over the use of the word term ‘statutory monopoly’ be removed. The new Act in terms of section 4(1) re-names the Zambia Competition Commission (ZCC) to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), with the Commission retaining its corporate status as in the old Act of being “a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal, capable of suing and being sued in its corporate name and with power, subject to the provisions of this Act, to do all such acts and things as a body corporate may, by law, do or perform”. The statutory functions of the Commission in the new Act have however been re-arranged, and differ somewhat in their form and execution from the old Act. In terms of section 5 of the Act, the functions of the Commission are to: “(a) review the operation of markets in Zambia and the conditions of competition in those markets; (b) review the trading practices pursued by enterprises doing business in Zambia; (c) investigate and assess restrictive agreements, abuse of dominant positions and mergers; (d) investigate unfair trading practices and unfair contract terms and impose such sanctions as may be necessary; (e) undertake and publish general studies on the effectiveness of competition in individual sectors of the economy in Zambia and on matters of concern to consumers; (f) act as a primary advocate for competition and effective consumer protection in Zambia; (g) advise government on laws affecting competition and consumer protection; (h) provide information for the guidance of consumers regarding their rights under this Act; (i) liaise and exchange information, knowledge and expertise with competition and consumer protection authorities in other countries; ( j) advise the Minister on agreements relevant to competition and consumer protection and on any other matter relating to competition and consumer protection; (k) cooperate with and assist any association or body of persons to develop and promote the observance of standards of conduct for the purpose of ensuring compliance with the provisions of this Act; and (l) do all such acts and things as are necessary, incidental or conducive to the better carrying out of its functions under this Act.” The Commission’s basic functions of investigating restrictive business practices, and examining mergers, and of carrying out competition advocacy work, remain in the new Act. It is noted that section 55 under Part VIII of the Act on investigations and determination by Commission gives the Commission powers of undertaking investigations at its own initiative or on a complaint made by any person. Anyone can therefore refer a case to the Commission for investigation, and the Commission can also proactively investigate a competition and consumer protection concern. The new Act also provides for a number of other functions of the Commission that were not provided for in the old Act, and which facilitates its better enforcement. For example, for the better enforcement of the Act’s consumer protection provisions, the new Act gives the Commission the added functions of investigating unfair trad-
Page 1 and 2:
UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON TRADE
Page 4:
UNITUNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON TR
Page 7 and 8:
2 VOLUNTARY PEER REVIEW OF CLP: A T
Page 10 and 11:
COMPARATIVE ASSESMENT COMPARATIVE A
Page 12 and 13:
PREFACE This comparative assessment
Page 14 and 15:
PREFACE agreements. . In the United
Page 16 and 17:
PREFACE Finally in the United Repub
Page 18 and 19:
PREFACE be set at a percentage of t
Page 20 and 21:
PREFACE the market price but constr
Page 22 and 23:
PREFACE (d) the extent to which the
Page 24 and 25:
PREFACE pendence is maintained and
Page 26 and 27:
PREFACE the effectiveness of the or
Page 28 and 29:
PREFACE practical solutions, for ex
Page 30:
PREFACE In addition to formal coope
Page 33 and 34:
28 VOLUNTARY PEER REVIEW OF CLP: A
Page 35 and 36:
Page 37 and 38:
Page 39 and 40:
Page 41 and 42:
Page 43 and 44:
Page 45 and 46:
Page 47 and 48:
Page 49 and 50:
Page 51 and 52:
Page 53 and 54:
Page 55 and 56:
Page 57 and 58:
Page 59 and 60:
Page 61 and 62:
Page 63 and 64: 58 VOLUNTARY PEER REVIEW OF CLP: A
Page 89: 84 VOLUNTARY PEER REVIEW OF CLP: A
Page 113: 108 VOLUNTARY PEER REVIEW OF CLP: A
Page 165 and 166:
Page 167 and 168:
Page 169 and 170:
Page 171 and 172:
Page 174 and 175:
ZIMBABWE FULL REPORT ZIMBABWE
Page 176 and 177:
ZIMBABWE TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE
Page 178 and 179:
ZIMBABWE This report is part of the
Page 180 and 181:
ZIMBABWE With the growing political
Page 182 and 183:
ZIMBABWE of restrictive practices,
Page 184 and 185:
ZIMBABWE competition authorities do
Page 186 and 187:
ZIMBABWE divided according to geogr
Page 188 and 189:
ZIMBABWE The Commission in 2006 whi
Page 190 and 191:
ZIMBABWE to take care of themselves
Page 192 and 193:
ZIMBABWE (under Section 9); basical
Page 194 and 195:
ZIMBABWE Full scale investigation i
Page 196 and 197:
ZIMBABWE (ii) to produce any book,
Page 198 and 199:
ZIMBABWE The fact that CTC has a co
Page 200 and 201:
ZIMBABWE tariat of technocrats, who
Page 202 and 203:
ZIMBABWE Table 2: Number of Competi
Page 204 and 205:
ZIMBABWE Regarding the handling of
Page 206 and 207:
ZIMBABWE (Emphasis by the author) b
Page 208 and 209:
ZIMBABWE Section 5 (1) (f) that pro
Page 210 and 211:
ZIMBABWE Whilst the arguments can b
Page 212 and 213:
ZIMBABWE Anti competitive agreement
Page 214:
ZIMBABWE by conducting its case det
Page 217 and 218:
Page 219 and 220:
Page 221 and 222:
Page 223 and 224:
Page 225 and 226:
Page 227:
Printed at United Nations, Geneva -
show all

a tripartite report - Unctad

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?