a tripartite report - Unctad

160 VOLUNTARY PEER REVIEW OF CLP: A TRIPARTITE REPORT ON THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA – ZAMBIA – ZIMBABWE
various international and regional organizations,
such as UNCTAD, the International Competition
Network (ICN), COMESA, SADC, Southern and
Eastern Africa Competition Forum (SEACF), and
the African Competition Forum (ACF).
Cooperation with UNCTAD is long standing, and
dates back from the inception of the Commission
in 1997. The cooperation not only involves capacity
building and technical assistance, but also involves
active participation at meetings of the Intergovernmental
Group of Experts on Competition Law
and Policy (IGE), and other gatherings such as the
United Nations Conferences to review all aspects of
the Set of Multilaterally Agreed Equitable Principles
for the Control of Restrictive Business Practices. The
Commission further contributes to various UNCTAD
publications on competition policy and law.
The ICN, an informal virtual network that seeks to
facilitate cooperation between competition law
authorities globally, was launched in October 2001
by competition authorities from 14 jurisdictions,
including Zambia171 . It has since grown to a membership
of 117 competition authorities from 103
countries with the admission of the authorities of
Namibia and Zimbabwe in 2011. The competition
authority of Zambia has been an active participant
in the ICN work programmes, including the Network’s
working groups172 .
Zambia is a founding member of COMESA, and
hosts that regional economic community. The
country’s competition authority is an active participant
in the regional body’s competition initiatives.
In that regard, the former Zambia Competition
Commission (ZCC) provided one of the three
regional competition experts that assisted in the
formulation and drafting of the COMESA competition
regulations and rules, that led to the formation
of the COMESA Competition Commission.
The COMESA Competition Commission is how-
Board of Commissioners was appointed in 2006,
no substantive work was accomplished towards
the operationalization of the competition Regulations
or the commencement of the operations
of the Commission because of lack of funding. It
was only in February 2011 that the Director of the
Commission was appointed. Upon his appointment,
the Director commenced the ground logistics
on the commencement of the operations of
the Commission at its headquarters in Lilongwe,
A new Board of Commissioners was sworn in October
2011. The Board consists of chief executive
other relevant experts, from nine COMESA member
States173 . The Commission is currently working,
with the European Union’s technical assistance under
the TradeCom Project, on the effective commencement
of its operations. The activities under
the Project include the drafting of enforcement
rules and procedures.
The jurisdiction between the COMESA Competition
Commission and national competition authorities
is very clear. The regional authority is only concerned
with competition concerns with a cross border
dimension, or which affect trade between the
member States. The COMESA regional competition
regulations take precedence over national competition
laws in accordance with the COMESA Treaty.
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that Zambia’s new Act is silent on the supremacy
of the COMESA competition regulations on crossborder
transactions affecting Zambia. Cooperation
in competition case handling between the regional
and national authorities is encouraged.
Zambia is also a signatory to the SADC Declaration
on Regional Cooperation in Competition and
Consumer Policies, which was signed by the Heads
of State or Government in September 2009 174 . The
Declaration notes that the SADC Protocol on Trade
provides that member States should implement
measures within the Community that prohibit unfair
business practices, and promote competition,
and that the Protocol also provides that a framework
of trade cooperation among member States
based on equity, fair competition and mutual ben-
velopment
Community in Southern Africa. It also
recognizes the important role which competition
and consumer policies can play in promoting eco-
and alleviation of poverty in the region. The Declaration
calls for the establishment of a system for
effective cooperation in the application of member
States’ respective competition and consumer protection
laws, but acknowledges that cooperation
should proceed in a gradual and phased approach
with the ultimate aim of achieving harmonization,
and establishing a regional framework in competition
and consumer policies. A Competition and