In 2011, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe volunteered for a peer review of their competition regimes. UNCTAD decided to undertake a tripartite peer review exercise, which is the first of its kind whereby each of the three countries reviews competition law and policy implementation in one of the other two countries. The tripartite peer review (TPR) comprised an in-depth assessment of the competition law and policy in each country, and a comparative assessment of the competition regimes in three countries by independent experts. Under the chairmanship of Dr. Sean Ennis, Executive Director of the Competition Commission of Mauritius, a panel of experts from other competition authorities discussed the findings of the assessment reports during the annual meeting of UNCTAD’s Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Competition Law and Policy in July 2012. The peer review resulted in several recommendations on how to further strengthen competition law enforcement in Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe; and suggested specific actions to support these countries with the implementation of these recommendations.

The first days of the tripartite peer review dissemination events in Harare, Lusaka and Dar es Salaam will inform local stakeholders about the findings and recommendations of the TPR held in 2012 which are specific to each country. It will further review the progress made to date in the implementation of the peer review recommendations and the support provided by development partners.  

The second days of the events are dedicated to training workshops on specific competition issues identified by the national competition authorities of each country. The focus of the training workshops will be particularly on investigation techniques and tools in dealing with cartels and vertical restraints; as well as the cooperation between different government bodies in handling competition cases.

The Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce will open the first event in Zimbabwe. The second event will be opened by the Head of the Zambia Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. The last event in Dar es Salaam will be opened by the Minister of Industries and Trade. Resource persons will include international and regional competition experts. Representatives from the public and the private sector, the academia, the judiciary, sector regulators, and development partners are invited to participate in the dissemination events.

It is expected that local stakeholders will be informed about the results of the TPR and will be encouraged to support the implementation of TPR recommendations in Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Furthermore, a broad range of stakeholders including representatives from the private sector, e.g. business associations and specialized competition lawyers, and consumer organizations shall be sensitized about specific competition issues. The training workshops will strengthen the knowledge of the staff of the competition authorities involved; and facilitate the exchange of experiences and best practices in between the participants and the panellists from other competition agencies in the region.

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