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Advocacy session at OICCI(Nation (Pakistan) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) Chairman Dr Joseph Wilson said that CCP is playing the role of a facilitator to create a competitive business environment that is conducive for investment in the country. He said this while addressing an advocacy session at the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI) in Karachi, said a press statement issued here. Dr. Shahzad Ansar, Mueen Batlay, Members CCP, Abdul Aleem, Secretary General OICCI and Members of OICCI also attended the session. The Chairman while giving an overview of CCP's performance noted that it had made a number of interventions whereby companies voluntarily complied with provisions of the competition law. He said that in the last one year CCP had scrutinised and processed complaints regarding cartelisation and other anticompetitive practices in various sectors of the economy. He said that despite various administrative issues, the Commission was focused on effectively discharging its statutory obligations. Dr. Wilson informed the participants of the meeting that the Competition Act, 2010 provides for a mandatory merger control regime and in 201314 CCP had granted NoObjectionCertificates (NOCs) in 38 cases of acquisitions, 4 cases of mergers and 4 joint ventures. Dr. Wilson said that there is a need to engage government departments and advocate for policies that were competitiveneutral. A crucial element in this advocacy strategy is the issuance of nonbinding advice to government departments in the form of Policy Notes. In 201314 the Commission issued five Policy Notes to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) recommending the abolition of an anticompetitive capacity tax on the beverage industry, to Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) regarding the nonissuance of flare gas licences, to the Higher Education Commission regarding its equivalence standards, on the discriminatory levy of Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC) on selective fertilizer plants and discriminatory access to Inland Freight Equalization Margin pool. Noting that since some regulations and processes were still based on the Competition Ordinance of 2007 despite the enactment of the Competition Act, 2010, CCP revised the regulations, i.e. (i) Competition (Leniency) Regulations, 2013 (ii) Competition (Exemption) Regulations, 2014 (iii) Competition (Reward Payment to Informants) Regulations, 2014. The Commission is in the process of revising some regulations including the Merger Regulations. Dr. Wilson said that CCP received international recognition for its efforts on various forums including the World Bank and Global Competition Review. |