BizCLIR

The area of competition law is one of the least developed of the nine areas studied. The 1993 legislation itself has the proper orientation and includes considerable detail on the definitions and theory of monopolistic/anti-competitive behavior. Amendments to the legislation in 1997 provide for extensive theoretical government authority to force the termination of monopolistic activity and to punish it, though it is seriously insufficient in one critical area: the establishment of regulatory and implementing regimes for enforcement. The law could provide a workable basis for competition reform, however, if properly interpreted and most importantly, if implemented in a meaningful way. Unfortunately, neither such interpretation nor implementation has occurred. The executive agency charged with implementing the law, for example, has seen its governmental status reduced and is now only a shell of an institution, with insufficient authority, funding and staffing to fulfill its mandate.

Supporting institutions for this area are also weak. Although there is some statistical capacity within the government and within the private sector, there does not seem to be any group focused on or trained in economic statistics related to analyzing anticompetitive behavior. Complaints of monopolies and cartels abound, but there is no significant organized protest to champion the needs of consumers or voice the concerns of the agricultural sector – which is deeply affected by limitations on entry into agribusiness areas, as well by export and import controls.