October 2012 marks the fifth anniversary of the promulgation of Pakistan’s Competition Law. The Chairperson of the Competition Commission of Pakistan, Ms. Rahat Kaunain Hassan, has requested UNCTAD to undertake a peer review of Pakistan's competition law and policy.
Ms. Hassan believes the Commission has accomplished much in terms of enforcement and advocacy in the past five years. The peer review process would help the Pakistan Government and the Commission to see how they can improve policy making, adopt best practices in terms of enforcement, and ensure compliance with established standards and principles, she feels.
"The time is appropriate in which the quality and efficiency of our Laws, regulations, processes, and the Commission itself are examined and assessed vis-à-vis those of our peers", writes Ms. Hassan in her letter of request to UNCTAD.
The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) was established in October 2007 under the Competition Ordinance, 2007, as a successor to the ‘Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Ordinance’ (MRTPO) 1970.
The UNCTAD peer review will be funded from the UN Development Account.
It will assess the substantive provisions of Pakistan's competition laws and policies using the UNCTAD Model law as a reference for best international standards.
The peer review report will be conducted by Dr. William Kovacic, competition law professor at George Washington University and former general counsel of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, in cooperation with two other peer reviewers to be agreed in consultations with the Competition Commission of Pakistan.
The peer review report will be presented to the UNCTAD Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Competition policy (IGE) in Geneva in July 2013 in the presence of some 120 jurisdictions. The peer review includes a follow-on UNCTAD capacity building programme to assist the Commission to implement the recommendations and build human and institutional capacity and report on a regular basis to the IGE.
