Commission calms fears of associations

This comes after oil companies last week went to the commission for a letter of comfort before they were willing to work together to help sort out the jet fuel crisis at OR Tambo International Airport.

The Department of Energy had asked the oil companies to assist but they were initially reluctant because they feared they might be accused of collusion by the competition authorities.

There have also been concerns in the business community that industry associations — such as the Banking Association — run the risk of being accused of collusion if they continue to meet to discuss industry issues.

Ramburuth attended a meeting at Business Unity SA (Busa) last week, and the commission will do a series of seminars with Busa to address the issue.

But Ramburuth doesn't understand what the fuss is about, suggesting the fears may have been stoked by corporate lawyers. Section 4(1)(b) of the Competition Act specifies that companies may not collude to fix prices or divide up markets, nor may they exchange price sensitive information.

“The law is crystal clear,” Ramburuth said. “Whether you have transgressed the law or not is a matter of fact.” It was perfectly legitimate for industry associations to meet on policy issues and monitor and interact with the government. But there were borderline issues, such as product specification, which might be anti competitive.

Agendas and invitations were important and if industry associations were really concerned, it was worth taping their meetings in case any nasty allegations were ever made. Insofar as there were borderline issues, companies could get legal advice or could approach the commission, Ramburuth said.

He was speaking ahead of a conference this week that celebrates 10 years of SA's competition authorities, which were set up in 1999 after new competition legislation was enacted in 1998.

The conference, hosted by the commission, the competition tribunal and the University of the Witwatersrand's Mandela Institute, will be attended by prominent international and African competition regulators and competition lawyers and economists from around SA.

“We have taken some good policies and turned them into good enforcement with good institutions in the middle,” Ramburuth said.

Source: Business Day

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