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