Unctad team reviews CCP performance: 'Brazilian, Pakistani competition agencies facing identical issues'

Brazil's competition agency is witnessing similar kind of issues as are being faced by the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP). Their decisions were also challenged in courts. During the 'peer-review' of the Commission by Unctad team members on Saturday, Fernando Furlan, Member of the Advisory Group of Experts, Competition and Consumer Protection in Latin America, shared the initiatives taken by the Brazilian competition agency to check cartels.
Orcun Senyucel, the Head of Department No4, the Turkish Competition Authority, was also part of the review team currently visiting Pakistan. Fernando Furlan, who is a former Chairman of Brazil's Competition Agency, informed media persons that both the competition agencies were facing similar challenges. Most of their decisions have been challenged in courts and consumers were faced with similar issues in Brazil and Pakistan.
He said that the competition agency of Brazil has introduced criminal penalties as a major deterrent to check cartels in major sectors of the economy. The introduction of criminal penalties such as imprisonment along with monetary penalties under competition laws was a kind of deterrence and it did not hurt the investment climate in developing countries, including Pakistan. "Mere monetary penalties are not enough, hence criminal penalties could prove as a real deterrence against involvement of heads of corporations/companies, which discourages them to involve themselves in cartelization or un-fair trade practice," he said.
Brazil has taken a number of major initiatives to prevent cartels through reforms and changes in their competition laws. The agency has taken action against the biggest bank in Brazil for violating competition laws. Moreover, another cartel involved in the supply of oxygen to hospitals was also "busted".
He said that overall penalties imposed on the basis of turnover had been reduced whereas criminal penalties proved to be an important deterrence in Brazil.
Fernando Furlan also appreciated actions taken by the commission to protect the interest of the consumers. The CCP has take action against cartels in key commodity sectors like cement, sugar, ghee and others with limited funding. However, the CCP has taken a number of measures to break cartels in important segments of the industry and trade.
Orcun Senyucel, the head of the Turkish Competition Authority also highlighted initiatives and action taken by his agency in promoting competition in his country.
He said that leniency provision was also available in their law "just like Pakistani competition laws". The UNCTAD Voluntary Peer Review on Competition Policy provides a unique opportunity to review the substantive content of national competition laws and their implementation, to assess the impact of decisions, and to examine and draw lessons from concrete experiences of countries implementing competition policies.
The Voluntary Peer Review is impartial and rigorous by nature and is undertaken by competition policy experts from both developed and developing countries having practical experience in implementing competition laws in consultation with UNCTAD staff. The review is also interactive as it combines the exchange of experiences with recommendations for possible improvements, either in the formulation/amendment of the competition law or in its enforcement.