The Competition and Fair Trading Commission (‘the Commission’) has developed guidelines on various anticompetitive trade practices to assist enterprises in complying with relevant provisions on anti-competitive trade practices under the Competition and Fair Trading Act (CFTA) cap 48:09 of the Laws of Malawi. The guidelines also provide guidance on the manner in which the Commission enforces those provisions.
The guidelines were approved at the Commission’s 61st meeting which was held on 28th March, 2022 and became effective from that date.
The guidelines that have been developed are as follows:
- Guidelines on Predatory Conduct, Discriminatory Conduct and Tying & Bundling.
- Guidelines on Market Definition.
- Guidelines on Exclusive Dealing Arrangements.
- Guidelines on Collusive Agreements and Conducts.
- Guidelines on Abuse of Dominance or Misuse of Market Power.
- Guidelines on Public Interest.
They have been developed to act as a guiding tool for the general public on the regulation of anticompetitive trade practices that may occur on the market in Malawi.
They specifically, outline the general principles underpinning the Commission’s approach in analysing anti-competitive trade practices under the CFTA, however, they are not a substitute for the Act and Competition and Fair Trading Regulations (CFTR). They must, therefore, be read in conjunction with the CFTA and CFTR.
The Commission involved various stakeholders from different sectors including enterprises in drafting the guidelines. Some of the stakeholders that were consulted during the drafting process included Ministry of Trade and Industry, Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority, COMESA Competition Commission, National Bank of Malawi, Lafarge (Malawi) Cement Limited, Multichoice Malawi, Airtel Malawi and Airtel Mobile Commerce Limited.
The guidelines may be accessed on the Commission’s official website www.cftc.mw for the general public’s reference.