Honeymoon over for cartels

 

TINASHE MAKICHI

 

The government has amended the competitions Act in a move meant to deal with violators of the business competition regulations, Business Times can report.

The latest development comes at a time the  Competition and Tariff Commission (CTC) has been battling to deal with violators of business competition regulations which have culminated in the creation of industry cartels, which the CTC has failed to combat.

There has been unfair competition in the market with several conglomerates using deceptive business practices to gain a competitive advantage.

Multiple analysts told Business Times this week that it has also been difficult for CTC to implement the Act because of political  interference.

It also comes at a time when there is an outcry over the awarding of most lucrative deals in government projects to alleged cronies of powerful individuals.

The amendment of the Act was revealed by the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Mavis Sibanda, who told Business Times that the revised law  has since been submitted to the Attorney General’s office for scrutiny.

The amendment, Sibanda said, would empower competition watchdogs to deal with cartels.

Sibanda said: “The ministry is seized with the amendment of the Competition Act to add more effectiveness in dealing with competition violators on the part of CTC. The papers are already with the Attorney General’s office. Part of the amendments will culminate in the upward adjustment of fines because we want fair play in the market.”

The Competitions Act was enacted in 1996. The Act , however, came into operation in 1998, the same year that the competition agency was established to implement it.

In adopting competition policy and law, Zimbabwe became the fifth country in southern and eastern Africa to do so after South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia.

The formulation and effective implementation of competition policy and law in Zimbabwe was only made possible through the assistance and cooperation given by other competition authorities and organisations.

In this part of the world, assistance was given by the Zambia Competition Commission, the Monopolies and Prices Commission of Kenya and the Competition Commission of South Africa.

Other competition authorities that assisted included the Federal Trade Commission and the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Justice Department, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the Office of Fair Trading of the United Kingdom, and the Bundeskartellamt of Germany.

Ever since the enactment of the legislation, the enforcement of competition regulations in Zimbabwe has had its challenges which saw CTC fining several conglomerates over unfair practices.

But such initiatives have since been quashed by the courts due to some technicalities.

Some analysts  have said the CTC  has failed to fully execute its mandate as several deals  have been approved without scrutiny from a competition authority.

 

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