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a tripartite report - Unctad

a tripartite report - Unctad

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TANZANIA<br />

Section 96(6) of the Act provides an important caveat<br />

that a person shall not contravene the Act<br />

by reason only of engaging in conduct required in<br />

order to comply with an enactment other than an<br />

enactment referred to under Section 96(3).<br />

It is equally noteworthy that under section 65(2)<br />

(i) of the FCA, the FCC has an exceptional power/<br />

privilege to participate in deliberations and proceedings<br />

of Government, Government commissions,<br />

regulatory authorities and other bodies in<br />

relation to competition and consumer welfare.<br />

This provision assumes that the subject deliberations<br />

and/or proceedings are known by the FCC.<br />

The FCC is yet to exercise this power.<br />

5.4 Research and competition<br />

advocacy<br />

The FCC has carried out research work in the cement<br />

industry to study the competition dynamics<br />

therein and made policy recommendations<br />

to the Minister of Trade which bordered on removing<br />

the barrier of importation of cement into<br />

the United Republic of Tanzania. The FCC has<br />

engaged consultants in some projects but theses<br />

have not produced desirable results. One of<br />

quires<br />

more time to understand competition law<br />

by engaging more with the competition authority<br />

through seminars, workshops and other joint<br />

training sessions. The FCC has generally found research<br />

based advocacy that has been done thus<br />

far using the academia has not brought out or<br />

<br />

its use. A complaint was also made that the FCC<br />

does appear to forget to put required value on<br />

research work. Sector regulators such as EWURA<br />

and TCRA were said to pay far better than the<br />

FCC on research work and their output has not<br />

been a subject of poor quality compared to work<br />

done for the FCC.<br />

The FCC should work closely with the academia<br />

and assist in developing competition and other<br />

related industrial sector studies from which it can<br />

ment.<br />

It is evident then that the FCC may need<br />

to refocus its terms of reference as well as resources<br />

devoted to research undertaken by the<br />

academia.<br />

79<br />

The FCC conducted a study in the cement industry<br />

which addressed the supply and distribution<br />

constraints that required Government attention.<br />

However, considering that at least 70 per cent of<br />

the Tanzanian economy is in the agriculture sector,<br />

the FCC needs to focus on key agriculture sectors<br />

in particular the outgrower schemes for cotton,<br />

coffee and other cash crops involving big multinationals,<br />

which may be engaged in predatory<br />

pricing strategies as well as collusion. It would be<br />

pertinent that FCA be amended to include provisions<br />

on abuse of buyer power, which could then<br />

be used against anticompetitive (abusive) practices<br />

in the agricultural sector in the United Republic<br />

of Tanzania. It may be a problem amongst farmers<br />

that they are effectually compelled to sell cotton,<br />

coffee etc at very low prices due to abusive practices<br />

by enterprises buying from them. The FCC<br />

is yet to carry out a study in any agricultural sector.<br />

Furthermore, another potential problem that<br />

may be experienced amongst farmers may be that<br />

smallholder farmers are forced to sell their basic<br />

crops such as cotton and coffee at very low prices<br />

to large, usually transnational, companies which<br />

have much more negotiating power vis-à-vis small<br />

farmers. Oligopolistic markets where these transnational<br />

companies operate are usually prone<br />

to such practices on the buyer side. Therefore, it<br />

would be a welcome development if the FCA was<br />

amended to include provisions on abuse of buyer<br />

power, which could then be used against such anticompetitive<br />

(abusive) practices in the agricultural<br />

sector in the United Republic of Tanzania.<br />

6.0 INTERNATIONAL<br />

COOPERATION AND<br />

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE<br />

6.1 International Cooperation<br />

The FCC has been an active participant member<br />

in most international and regional organizations<br />

dealing with competition policy. These are:<br />

(i) The Southern and Eastern Africa Competition<br />

Forum (SEACF), of which it is a founding<br />

member. The FCC has been engaged in<br />

bilateral training programmes with the Zambia<br />

Competition Commission (now Competition<br />

and Consumer Protection Commission) and<br />

the Kenya Competition Commission, and<br />

TANZANIA

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