Lilongwe, Malawi

+265 (0)111 772 466

compcom@comesacompetition.org

Notice of Closure for Festive Holidays

It is hereby notified that the COMESA Competition Commission (the Commission) will be officially closing for the 2014-2015 festive holidays as from Monday 22nd December 2014 to Sunday, 11th January 2015 and will reopen on Monday 12th January 2015. Kindly take note that during this period, the Office of the Registrar of the Commission will be closed for notification of transactions. With regard to transactions already notified and under consideration, the computation of time during this period will be adjusted accordingly as per Rule 3(2) of the COMESA Competition Rules which reads:

“Where the time prescribed by or allowed under these Rules for doing an act or taking a proceeding expires on a Saturday or Sunday or on a day on which the office of the Registrar is closed, the act may be done or the proceeding may be taken on the first day following that is not a Saturday, Sunday or day on which that office is closed.”

For any issues requiring immediate attention during this period, Mr. Vincent Nkhoma, Manager Exemptions and Enforcement will be the ‘Officer In Charge’ for the Commission and can be contacted on: Cell: +265 (0) 888 589 700 or Email: vnkhoma@comesa.int .

The Commission wishes all its stakeholders a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and look forward to reconnecting in the new year.

The Registrar
COMESA Competition Commission
5th Floor-West Wing, Kang’ombe House
P.O. Box 30742
Lilongwe 3, Malawi
Cell: +265 (0) 991 320088
Office Phone: +265 (0) 1 772466
Email: mdisasa@comesa.int or compcom@comesa.int

CCC Notice No. 2 of 2014: Notice on the Validation Workshop for the Draft Merger Control Guideline Under the COMESA Competition Regulations

It is hereby notified to the general public that the COMESA Competition Commission (“the Commission”) has organised a Regional Validation Workshop for the Draft Guideline on the Implementation of the Merger Control Provisions under the COMESA Competition Regulations (“the Regulations”) and the COMESA Competition Rules (“the Rules”) scheduled for 1 – 2 July, 2014 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The general public will recall that the commencement of operations of the Commission in January, 2013, triggered a lot of interest from stakeholders from both the region and beyond as regards how the new regime will work and indeed how the various provisions of the Regulations and Rules will be implemented. In order to allay these concerns and ensure certainty in the implementation of the law, the Commission responded by issuing draft guidelines on the interpretation of the various provisions of the Regulations and Rules which were initially posted on the Commission website in April, 2014, for wider stakeholder comments.

Considering the comprehensive nature of the inputs on the draft guidelines received from stakeholders and the desire to deliver the guidelines that meets international best practices, the Commission, through the support of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), engaged consultants to assist in polishing up the merger control guideline based on international best practices. The Consultancy prioritised the merger control guideline considering the significant amount of interest the merger control provisions of the Regulations and Rules generated among the stakeholders.

Following the delivery of the initial draft revised merger control guideline by the Consultants, the Commission in collaboration with the IFC organized a Regional Workshop on the Revision of the Merger Control Provisions under the Regulations and the Rules which took place in Johannesburg, South Africa on 2-4 April, 2014. The workshop, among others, provided an opportunity for the Member States to deliberate and make inputs into the revised draft guideline on the implementation of the merger control provisions of the Regulations.

Following the workshop in South Africa, Since then, the consultants in collaboration with the Steering Committee have been working to perfect the guideline taking into account the inputs from the Member States and other stakeholders. The Commission has, therefore, organised this validation workshop whose objective is to enable the Member States and other Competition Law Experts and Practitioners make final inputs into the process before the guideline is tabled for adoption by the Commission’s Board of Commissioners scheduled to meet in August, 2014.

Recognising that there is no finality in such processes, the Commission wishes to encourage those who may still have inputs to make on the guideline to make such submissions to the Commission by contacting Willard Mwemba, on wmwemba@comesa.int or write to the Commission on the following address:

The Director,
COMESA Competition Commission,
5th Floor-West Wing, Kang’ombe House,
P.O. Box 30742,
Lilongwe 3,
Malawi.

Cell: +265 (0) 991 320088
Office Phone: +265 (0) 1 772466
Email: compcom@comesa.int
www.comesacompetition.org

CCC Notice No. 4 of 2014: The 6th Annual Conference of the African Consumer Protection Dialogue, 8-12 September, 2014

The COMESA Competition Commission in collaboration with the Competition and Fair Trading Commission (CFTC) of Malawi and the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is co-hosting the 6th Annual Conference of the African Consumer Protection Dialogue (the ‘African Dialogue’). The conference will be held in Lilongwe from 8-12 September 2014, under the theme “strengthening the framework for dealing with cross-border consumer violations”.

The African Dialogue is an effort of African Governments, NGOs, and the FTC to create informal opportunities to interface with each other and the rest of the world on consumer protection issues. Some of the key priority initiatives for the African Dialogue include:

  • Facilitating information sharing from African consumer protection authorities;
  • Gathering African consumer laws and creating a legal framework toolkit for African consumer legislation;
  • Creating a rapid alert system for cross-border consumer fraud in Africa;
  • Organizing consumer education initiatives – including initiatives regarding children’s online safety;
  • Engaging African regional and economic organizations regarding consumer issues.
  • Publishing a quarterly newsletter;
  • Hosting monthly teleconferences/videoconferences;

For further information about the conference please contact Mary Gurure on  mgurure@comesa.int or write to the Commission on the following address:

The Director,
COMESA Competition Commission,
5th Floor-West Wing, Kang’ombe House,
P.O. Box 30742,
Lilongwe 3,
Malawi.
Email: compcom@comesa.int
www.comesacompetition.org

CCC Notice No. 6 of 2014: Technical Missions to Djibouti, DRC, Uganda, Zambia

The Commission was mandated by the Council of Ministers at the last Policy Organs meeting in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo to intensify advocacy work in Member States with the view to assist the Member States put up measures to ensure the implementation of the Regulations in the respective national territories. The Commission has, in its work programme for this financial year, prioritized the implementation of this decision of Council.

In addition to the mission already carried out to Seychelles, the team from the Commission will between August and November undertake advocacy and awareness technical missions to Djibouti, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Uganda and Zambia with the view to speak to the relevant authorities and stakeholders as regards the need to develop the national competition policies and laws that are harmonized with the Regulations and advise on the issues pertaining to the domestication of the Regulations at the national level to ensure their effective implementation.

For further information about the missions please contact Vincent Nkhoma on vnkhoma@comesa.int or write to the Commission on the following address:

The Director,
COMESA Competition Commission,
5th Floor-West Wing, Kang’ombe House,
P.O. Box 30742,
Lilongwe 3,
Malawi.
Email: compcom@comesa.int
www.comesacompetition.org