a tripartite report - Unctad

ZIMBABWE
to take care of themselves. It is a law that regulates
private relationships between individual consumers
and businesses that sell those goods and services
(Antle 187 , 1995).
The preamble of the ZCA provides for “... the prevention
and control of restrictive practices, the
regulation of mergers, the prevention and control
of monopoly situations and the prohibition
of unfair trade practices; and to provide for matters
connected with or incidental to the forego-
consumer protection in the preamble, but it is
common knowledge that the ultimate objective
of competition law and policy is promotion and
protection of consumer welfare through control of
anticompetitive practices. It may also be construed
that the consumer related provisions in the ZCA
came about through the last part of the preamble
“… and to provide for matters connected with or
incidental to the foregoing ...”
Consumer protection covers a wide range of topics,
including but not necessarily limited to product
liability, privacy rights, unfair business practices,
fraud, misrepresentation, and other consumer/
business interactions. Consumer protection laws
are therefore a form of government instrument
aimed at protecting the eight acclaimed universally
accepted consumer rights.
consumer protection. It however has a number of
Sections on consumer welfare and protection that
are scattered in various Parts of the ZCA. These
include three unfair business practices as follows:
(i) misleading advertising,
(ii) false bargains, and
(iii) distribution of commodities or services above
advertised price.
Almost all consumer protection related provisions
be considered in issuing orders and are basically
related to pricing of goods and services. These include
the following:
one of the effects that determines
an anticompetitive practice is the
“enhancing or maintaining the price of
any commodity or service “as provided
under Section 2;
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(b) orders made by the Commission against
restrictive practices include:
(i) requiring the offender to publish lists
of prices, or otherwise notify prices; as
provided under Section 31 (1) (c);
(ii) regulating the price which the offender
may charge for any commodity or service
as provided under Section 31 (1) (d);
(c) factors considered by the Commission when
making orders include the promotion of “the
interests of consumers, purchasers and other
users of commodities and services … in regard
to the prices, quality and variety of such
commodities and services” provided under
Section 32 (1) (b);
(d) the Commission does not regard a restrictive
practice as contrary to the public interest if:
(iii) that restrictive practice is reasonably
necessary, having regard to the character
of the commodity or service to which it
applies, to protect consumers or users of
the commodity or service, or the general
public, against injury or harm Section 32
(2) (a);
(iv) the termination of the restrictive practice
would deny to consumers or users of
the commodity or service to which the
enjoyed or likely to be enjoyed by them
Section 32 (2) (b).
In practice, among the three unfair competition
issues, it is only misleading advertising that has
been dealt with by the CTC. There are 10 cases
that have been disposed between 1999 and 2010;
provisions for the two other issues have not been
put to test.
Currently, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce
is in the process of enacting a substantive consumer
protection law for Zimbabwe. The proposed
Consumer Protection Bill will soon be discussed by
a wider set of stakeholders to allow for collection
of their views on the proposed bill with a view to
improve on the provisions. Two stakeholders interviewed
on the subject who have happened to see
the proposed bill have indicated that the Consumer
Protection Law will be administered by a body
to be established by itself and not the competition
ZIMBABWE