BUJUMBURA December 14th (ABP) – During the Cabinet Meeting held on December 8, 2021, among the items on the agenda was the bill on the organization and functioning of the Competition Commission.
According to the press release from the General Secretariat of the State, the law on competition of the East African Community was put in place in 2006, and Burundi has been a member of the Community since July 2007. This law aims, among other things, to promote and to protect fair trade in the Community, to guarantee the welfare of consumers and to create the EAC Competition Authority.
Under this EAC competition law, Burundi has the obligation to set up a legal and institutional framework for competition. It is within this framework that Law No. 1/06 of March 28, 2010 on the legal regime of competition was enacted, with a view to creating an environment conducive to improving the business climate and international investment. This law provides for the creation of an independent competition commission, as the competition regulatory authority.
The press release indicates that this draft decree was proposed for the sake of setting up that Commission, and that the implementation of the competition law depends on it.
At the end of the analysis, the Cabinet passed the bill with as recommendations, to delete the aspects related to the immunity granted to the members of the Commission, to add as other members of the Commission, a representative of the Prime Minister and a representative of the Ministry in charge of the East African Community Affairs and to retain the members of the Supreme Court, (and not the former members) as part of the Commission.
For the personalities designated because of their skills, it will be necessary to retain a single specialty so as not to leave room for subjectivity.