Chairman of the Fair Trading Commission, Dr Ronald Ramkissoon, says the agency prides itself as the vanguard for competition law and policy in T&T and in collaboration with the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB), developed a Guide to the Fair Trading Act, Ch.81:13.
Speaking at the launch of the guide yesterday Ramkissoon said the intention is to better ensure that consumers and businesses are protected from anti-competitive activity and abuses of market power. The guide also addresses other aspects of competition law and policy such as industry structures (monopolistic and oligopolistic markets) and market conduct (such as tied selling and predatory pricing) the objective being to provide stakeholders with a better understanding of pro-competitive economic and business principles.
Ramkissoon also noted that the FTC remains committed to shaping and enforcing T&T’s local competition law and policy and in doing so, aims to foster a collective, resilient and economic inclusive country that facilitates competitive outcomes which are especially important to developing nation thrust.
“The fostering of a culture of competition by the FTC is made evident through the FTC’s robust advocacy work which has sought to promote a competitive environment for economic activities in Trinidad and Tobago predominantly through the utilization of non-enforcement mechanisms to build relationships with key stakeholders including the business community and government entities; and by increasing public awareness of the benefits of competition,” Ramkissoon said.
This, he added, has certainly been the order of the day for the FTC since its establishment in 2014 and has continued after the FTA’s full proclamation in 2020.
Executive director of the FTC, Bevan Narinesingh, who also spoke noted the importance of guides to competition legislation.
“Guides provide practical ‘how-to’ information to enable compliance with competition legislation. It is of inestimable value to professionals in this area of practice as well as the government, the Judiciary, consumers, businesses, academia, investors and economists alike,” Narinesingh said.
He said they also provide clear explanations of complex concepts and is intended foster a sound understanding of the legal principles of competition law and policy.
About the TTFTC
The Trinidad and Tobago Fair Trading Commission (TTFTC) was established as an independent statutory agency following the passage of the Fair Trading Act in 2006.
But the institution did not become operational until July 2014, eight years later, when the first four commissioners of the Fair Trading Commission (FTC) received their instruments of appointment from then Minister of Trade, Industry, Investment and Communication, Vasant Bharath.
The first commissioners of the TTFTC were retired High Court judge Amrika Tiwary-Reddy, retired Republic Bank economist, Ronald Ramkissoon, economics lecturer Anne Marie Mohammed and executive director Bevan Narinesingh.
According to the TTFTC website, the current commissioners of the TTFTC are: Ronald Ramkissoon, Donald Martineau, Dawn Callender, Dennis Scott, Gabrielle Gellineau
It was the third competition agency established in the CARICOM region.
The objectives of the TTFTC are to:
* Ensure that all legitimate business enterprises have an equal opportunity to participate in the economy;
* Prevent Anti-competitive conduct while at the same time complementing other policies that promote competition;
* Maintain and encourage free and fair competition;
* Raise awareness of the benefits of competition through advocacy;
* Provide guidance on how to comply with the law.