a tripartite report - Unctad

ZAMBIA
“(1) The Commission shall, in determining the relevant
market, identify –
(a) the peculiar appearance, use, price, range, quality
characteristics, uniqueness and any other feature
distinguishes it from other products;
(b) whether targeted consumers consider the product
taste or usage, to the extent that it affects purchase
decisions;
(c) whether in the event of a shortage, lack of availability,
a price increase on any other constraining factor,
another product could be used or substituted by
consumers for the same use;
(d) whether competitors have failed or are likely to fail
to supply a similar product;
(e) the geographical location within Zambia in which
the bulk of sales or supply of the product take
place;
(f) the historical consumer behaviour, if any, related to
the product; and
(g) the uniqueness of the production process of
the product and the ease with which a different
production process can be altered to produce the
product.
(2) Notwithstanding subregulation (1), the
Commission, in determining the relevant product
third parties, conduct public inquiries, consider or
adopt international best practice determinations
with the Act and these Regulations and are
practical to the Zambian situation, as it may
determine”.
The determination of the relevant product market
under the Regulations therefore covers the main
analytical areas of such determination. In normal
practice, the ‘relevant market’ refers to the general
conditions under which sellers and buyers
boundaries that identify groups of sellers and of
buyers of goods within which competition is likely
to be restrained. It requires the delineation of the
product and geographical lines within which spe-
to establish price and output. It should include
all reasonably substitutable products or services,
and all nearby competitors, to which consumers
could turn to in the short term if the restraint
amount.
(b) Part IV: Mergers
117
Provisions on mergers in the new Act are contained
in a whole Part with 13 sections (sections 24
to 37), as opposed to those in the old Act which
were only in one section (section 8). That shows
that merger control in Zambia has assumed greater
importance and relevance to the national economy
since the enactment of the old Act in 1994.
For developing countries like Zambia, mergers
play a very important role in economic develop-
diverse, and include the need to achieve economies
of scale and scope, and other operational
search
and development, as well as the creation
of national champions. Most mergers pose little or
no serious threat to competition, and may actually
be pro-competitive. Such benevolent mergers
have a number of economic advantages such as
resultant economies of scale, reduction in the cost
of production and sale, and gains of horizontal integration.
There could also be more convenient
and reliable supply of input materials and reduction
of overheads. The advantages could lead to
lower prices to the consumer.
Other mergers however seriously harm competition
by increasing the probability of exercise of
market power 137 . In that regard, concerns about
vertical restraints and abuse of dominance come
to the fore. Mergers can also sometimes produce
market structures that are anticompetitive in the
cartelize a market, or enabling the merged entity
to act more like a monopolist.
There is therefore need for competition authorities
to thoroughly examine mergers in order to
identify and prevent those transactions that are
harmful to competition. All the three main types of
mergers (i.e., horizontal mergers, vertical mergers,
and conglomerate mergers) 138 can be harmful to
competition. 139
for in section 24(1) of the new Act (the old Act
merger occurs where an enterprise, directly or indirectly,
acquires or establishes, direct or indirect,
control over the whole or part of the business of
another enterprise, or when two or more enterprises
mutually agree to adopt arrangements for
ZAMBIA