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Competition and Tariff Commission director Mr Alex Kububa said yesterday.
The Competition and Tariff Commission (CTC) has said the Competition and Tariff Act needed to undergo review as a matter of urgency to ensure it becomes robust in tackling a number of issues in the economy.
In an interview, Mr Kububa said the report to be compiled by a consultant or competition expert would be considered during a conference to be held in Geneva.
“If reviewed, the Competition law and policy will address a number of issues affecting our economy. For example, under the current law there are no merger control provisions, the adjudication functions and the update of dominance is not specific,” he said.
The present Competition law and policy is considered weak in terms of controlling consumer welfare and abuse of dominance by companies in service provision.
“The report on the review of the current Act will be considered by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) at a conference to be held in Geneva in July.
“After that, if we are lucky we will get donors to fund the review of the Act as a matter of urgency,” he said, adding that CTC was yet to come up with a budget needed to review the Act.
He said the consultant will be required to prepare an assessment report on the work of the commission.
In addition, the report should also specify amendments to the Act (or other legislation) or institutional and regulatory arrangements for the enforcement of the law, if any.
While the forthcoming Act is expected to be confined to the Zimbabwean situation, the consultant should also be guided by the United Nations set of principles on competition, and the UNCTAD model law.
It is envisaged that if successfully reviewed, the Act would see the imposition of stiffer penalties on businesses that abuse their dominance in different economic sectors.
The CTC was established through an Act of Parliament to study trends towards increased economic concentration with a view to investigating monopolistic situations where they run parallel with public interest.
The commission also seeks to encourage and promote competition in all economic sectors, reducing entry barriers to any form of economic activity as well as fostering investigations, discouraging and preventing restrictive practices.
Online Reporter