Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel plans to release proposals regarding changes to the Competition Act during this year.
In a written reply to a Parliamentary enquiry made by the Democratic Alliance’s Michael Cardo, Patel said this followed a further round of engagements with practitioners during the latter part of 2016.
Cardo asked Patel to clarify his statements made during the debate on Vote No 25 – Economic Development, Appropriation Bill in Parliament on April 21, last year. This included outlining the gaps, weaknesses and possible solutions identified in relation to the Competition Act.
“As the various matters that may form the subject of the proposals are currently being reviewed, details of the proposed changes are not yet available for release,” Patel said in his reply.
He noted that the review covered areas such as the efficacy of the administration of the Competition Act, procedural aspects of the investigation and prosecution of offences, matters relating to abuse of dominance, more effective investigations against cartels and the current public interest provisions of the Act.
“Not all of these areas will necessarily result in a review of the Act,” he stated.