A two-day training workshop on 'Competition and Consumer Protection' for officials of Afghanistan's Ministry of Commerce and Industries, Afghanistan Investment and Reconstruction Task Force, and Competition and Consumer Protection Directorate (CCPD), was held at the Competition Commission Pakistan (CCP).
The consultative programme was organised by the US Department of Commerce, through its Commercial Law Development Program, in partnership with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and CCP. This is the first ever such regional training on Competition Law, which was conducted by CCP for Afghan officials.
Appreciating Afghanistan's efforts to introduce a modern competition regime, Chairperson of CCP Rahat Kaunan Hassan stated that initiatives that promote regional co-operation over competition matters would benefit all participating countries. Director-General of Afghan CCPD Hafizullah Walirahimi highlighted steps being taken by Afghanistan to modernise its competition laws and expressed the hope that his country would soon introduce a contemporary regime.
Joe Yang of the US Department of Commerce and Timothy Hughes of the Federal Trade Commission thanked CCP for hosting the workshop and sharing experience with their Afghan counterparts. Interactive sessions on various issues faced by new competition agencies were held.
Chairperson of CCP Rahat Kaunain Hassan highlighted numerous organisational, administrative, and financial challenges faced by CCP since its inception in 2007 and explained how she and her team surmounted these challenges and created a viable competition agency that is well respected all over the world in a short span. She talked in detail about choosing the right board members and staff, creating internal administrative and financial procedures, and developing competent human resources.
She discussed the need for having a regional model for competition regimes drawing from the strengths of relevant competition agencies. She also emphasised that new competition agencies needed to have administrative, financial and operational autonomy and the right enforcement and advocacy tools for the successful implementation of the contemporary competition laws. Dr Joseph Wilson, Member CCP, gave a presentation on overview of the organisational and management structure of CCP. Dr Wilson also spoke about the integrated agency model - one being followed by CCP - where a "single specialised agency undertakes investigative, enforcement and adjudicative functions" and how such a model was best-suited for new agencies.
He also conducted a session on the need for having a merger control regime, besides highlighting various components of the merger regime in Pakistan. Director General (Corporate Affairs) CCP Ikramul Haque Qureshi gave a detailed presentation on preventing and dealing with corruption. Qureshi highlighted the need for internal checks and balances and policies to reduce corruption, but cautioned against using allegations of corruption as a tool for vilification and victimisation.
Others presenters included: Shaista Bano, Director General (Cartels and Trade Abuses) and Syed Umair Javed, Joint Director (Cartels and Trade Abuses) on 'Investigations to Enforcement: the Process from A-Z'; Nadia Nabi, Director (Cartels and Trade Abuses) on 'Establishing Reliable and Credible Resource Materials'; Ahmed Qadir and Asfandyar Khattak, Directors Advocacy, on 'Public Awareness and Outreach to Private Sector'.
The participants of the workshop said that they had been exposed to many new areas of Competition Law which would be useful for the new competition regime in Afghanistan. Timothy Hughes of the US-based FTC said that cross-border co-operation between Afghanistan and Pakistan was highly encouraging and would go a long way in establishing long-term relationship between the two countries. Joe Yang of the US Department of Commerce thanked CCP for its experience-sharing with Afghan officials, which will prove to be useful in their capacity-building.
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