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CCM held a workshop on Enhancing
Competition in Mauritius |
| The Competition Commission of Mauritius
(CCM) held a workshop on “Enhancing Competition in Mauritius:
A New Competition Regime,” on Tuesday 08th December 2009
at the Swami Vivekananda International Convention Centre at
Pailles. Some 175 participants from various sectors of the Mauritian
economy were present, among them leaders in the private and
public sectors. |
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The main components of the workshop
were as below:
• Welcome address by Mr. John Davies,
Executive Director of CCM
• Opening Remarks by Mr. Rajiv Servansingh, Vice Chairman
of the CCM
• The Legal framework of Anti-Competitive behavior
by Mrs. Kiran Meetarbhan, Director (Legal) at CCM
• Competition Issues: A consumer protection perspective
by Mr. Mosadeq Sahebdin from Institute of Consumer Protection
• Presentation by Mr. Raj Makhoond, Director of the
Joint Economic Council
• Competition Issues in the Broadcasting and Information
Technology Sector by Mr. Trilock Dwarka, Chairman of IBA &
ICTA and Dr. Krishna Oolun, Chief Executive of ICTA
• Cartels by Mr. Sanjeev Ghurburrun, Barrister at Law
& Partner at GGG Chambers
• Presentation by Mr. Kiran Juwaheer, President of
the Mauritius Chamber of Commerce & Industry
• Competition cases: Experience from New Zealand by
Miss Tamara Linnhoff, Consultant Economist at CCM
• Discussions & Conclusion |
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| Mr. John Davies and Mr.
Rajiv Servansingh highlighted the role and responsibilities
of the Competition Commission of Mauritius in the local context.
The Competition Law is of upmost importance to ensure the welfare
of consumers, good health of the economy and for sound competition
in general. The Competition Act 2007 is now fully in force and
the CCM will open its first investigation in December 2009.
Several other investigation cases will follow, most probably
in January 2010. |
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The legal framework of anti-competitive
behavior was explained by Mrs. Nandinee Meetarbhan, Deputy Executive
Director/Director Legal, who described the powers of the Commission
and the Executive Director as set out in the Competition Act
2007. |
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Mr. Mosadeq Sahebdin from the Institute
of Consumer Protection welcomed the arrival of the CCM and provided
his views on areas he considered a priority for action by the
Commission. |
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In the afternoon session, the representative
of the Joint Economic Council, Mr. Raj Makhoond, noted the historical
basis of the Act, in the overall policy of the liberalization
and modernization of the Mauritian economy. He noted that the
solid regulatory base of the economy is one of the main pillars
that has shielded the Mauritian economy from the financial crisis. |
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| The implications that the Competition
Act may have on the Broadcasting sector and the Information
and communication sector was presented by Mr. Trilock Dwarka
(Chairman of IBA) and Mr. Krishna Oolun (Chief Executive of
ICTA) respectively. |
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Quoting the well-known movie, “The
Godfather,” Mr. Sanjeev Ghurburrun, explained Cartels
and collusive agreements in more detail and the underlying penalties
that may apply. He underlined that there is no need to have
formal legally binding agreements amongst entities for a breach
of the Act to be committed. There is a leniency program that
has been put in place to encourage enterprises who are in collusive
agreements or are aware of it, to disclose this and collaborate
with the CCM. In return they will be exempted (fully or partially)
from the penalties. |
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The president of the Mauritius Chamber
of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Kiran Juwaheer, also welcomed
the Act, while raising some concerns about its application in
practice with regard to strategic agreements and to IP rights. |
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| Miss Tamara Linnhoff, a consultant
economist previously at the Commerce Commission of New Zealand
and presently assisting the CCM in developing its investigations,
gave a presentation of some relevant competition cases from
New Zealand. |
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| The session was concluded after a
series of questions and discussions with senior representatives
of the CCM. |
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