a tripartite report - Unctad
a tripartite report - Unctad
a tripartite report - Unctad
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TANZANIA<br />
(iv) In January 2005, fake Gentrisone Cream (a product of Shin Poong, South Korea) was <strong>report</strong>ed. In this<br />
case, the active ingredient was replaced with hand and body lotion.<br />
(h) The Guardian of 8 November 2007 had the title; Consumer awareness is no laughing matter.<br />
(i) The Business Times of 6 January 2008 had the title; Stakeholders urge for more awareness education.<br />
( j) Nipashe of 14 March 2008 had the title; Importation of counterfeit goods is a threat to consumers. More<br />
than 80 per cent of consumers in the United Republic of Tanzania are not aware of their rights.<br />
(k) Uhuru, a Swahili newspaper of 4 April 2008 had front page story with the title, “Expired toothpaste chemicals<br />
were found for Tanga Sabuni Detergent” – The chemicals were meant for making a famous toothpaste in the<br />
country – Aha.<br />
(l) Guardian of 27 March 2008 had the title; Vision 2025: Shall we achieve `Green Revolution`? The prices of<br />
fertilizers and farming implements remain higher due to cheating by the distributors of fertilizers.<br />
There are no provisions in MMA that provide for<br />
an FCC initiated investigation on whether a claim<br />
as above is actually meant to blame and defame<br />
a competing product and whether such claims<br />
are made by a competitor of the producer of the<br />
blamed product. The process of ascertaining facts<br />
about products is a public inquiry for the FCC. As<br />
has been noted above, under Regulation 12 of the<br />
MMR, the FCC has to satisfy itself of the locus of<br />
the complainant (who has to be the IP owner or<br />
agent) and a case is not ordinarily investigated<br />
until a security deposit has been made. There are<br />
also safeguards within the MMA and MMR against<br />
frivolous complaints as earlier indicated. However,<br />
civil society organizations such as TCAS, as well as<br />
the media have a leeway to pronounce allegations<br />
and hope that enforcement institutions such as the<br />
FCC would act on their allegations.<br />
While it is acknowledged that the FCC has been<br />
working so hard to reduce the problem of counterfeit<br />
products in the market by destroying them<br />
and giving severe punishment in accordance with<br />
the law, the problem is still on the rise. Despite the<br />
rise in numbers of acts of unethical business conduct<br />
and violation of consumer’s rights the TCAS<br />
considered that partnerships with independent<br />
civil society to curb the situation have not been<br />
extensively explored.<br />
4.0 THE INSTITUTIONAL<br />
FRAMEWORK<br />
4.1 The Fair Competition Commission<br />
The FCC is established under Section 62 of the Act<br />
-<br />
67<br />
minations after its secretariat has investigated, reviewed<br />
or assessed matters under the FCA. While<br />
there is a thin line between the secretariat and the<br />
FCC, the functional separation of duties is clear in<br />
practice. The FCC does appear to be a fairly independent<br />
agency, considering its functions, appointment<br />
and tenure of members, investigatory<br />
powers, funding, etc as explained in detail below.<br />
4.1.1 Functions of the Commission<br />
Section 65 outlines a rather long list of the functions<br />
of the FCC ranging from Section 65(2)(a) –<br />
(m) i.e. 13 functions to perform. The roles can be<br />
summarized into two categories i.e. enforcement<br />
and advocacy. Enforcement functions include investigations<br />
into anticompetitive trade practices<br />
and advocacy includes championing competition<br />
and consumer protection by sitting in on any public<br />
inquiry or contribute to policy and legal reform.<br />
With such a responsibility load, the Chairman of<br />
the FCC is expected, in consultation with the other<br />
members of the FCC, to determine from time to<br />
time the priority to be given to any of the functions<br />
and activities set out above for the effective and<br />
79 .<br />
There is an important function that the FCC has<br />
been granted under Section 65(4) of the FCA.<br />
Proactively, the FCC is entitled to participate in<br />
the proceedings of courts, tribunals, regulatory<br />
authorities, Government inquiries, commissions,<br />
committees and working groups for the purpose<br />
of observing the proceedings and making representations<br />
on matters relevant to the FCC’s functions.<br />
This is a peculiar function that is not available<br />
to sister authorities in Zambia or Zimbabwe.<br />
TANZANIA