Competition Policy in the Offing

After several failed attempts by the Ministry of Trade and Industry to bring competition policy into being to address issues of cartels, bid rigging, horizontal and vertical meagers among others, Dr. Ekow Spio Garbrah, the sector Minister, has disclosed that a local firm has been selected through a competitive tendering process to draft the policy.

He said once the draft policy is received by the ministry, there would be a host of stakeholder consultations to get input of industry and businesses into the document stating that once the due process has been done it shall be taken to Cabinet.

The country according to him would hopefully have Competition Policy approved by Cabinet by the middle of next year. Dr Garbrah made this disclosure at the National Workshop on Competition Policy held in Accra.

Once the policy is passed, the Trade and Industry Minister says his outfit in collaboration with the Attorney General Department would commence work on the Competition Bill. He said “when are able to get the law into being then the Competition Authority would be established. We look forward to that day”

Dr Garbrah noted that the Ministry of Trade and Industry is pleased to have CUTS as what he described as a ‘knowledge partner’ on the issue of competition and consumer protection indicating that CUTS believes in long –term and continuous engagement on the above mentioned issues.

He paid glowing tribute to CUTS for extending a helping hand to Ministry of Trade and Industry [Government of Ghana] to develop the national competition regime in the country saying “the approach of doing this by incorporating views of key actors and with support of civil society and decision-makers is apt .”