News

Press Release:CARICOM Competition Commission Appoints New Chairman And Member

PRESS RELEASE

July 26, 2018

CARICOM COMPETITION COMMISSION APPOINTS NEW CHAIRMAN AND MEMBER

The CARICOM Competition Commission (CCC) is pleased to announce the appointment of new Chairman Justice Christopher Blackman (Ret.) and Member, Mr. Anthony LaRonde. The Commissioners were sworn in by the Honorable Mr. Justice Adrian Saunders, President of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) and Chairman of the Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission (RJLSC), and witnessed by outgoing Chairman of the CCC, Dr. Kusha Haraksingh.

Mr. Justice Christopher Blackman, GCM is a former non-resident Justice of Appeal of the Belize Court of Appeal who served from October 1, 2014 to September 2017. He was also a Justice of the Court of Appeal of The Bahamas, serving from March 1, 2008 to December 5, 2014. He served as a High Court Judge of Barbados (2003-2008) and Belize (2001-2003). He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1987, served as President of the Barbados Bar Association (1983-86) and as an Independent Senator (1986-1990) in the Barbados Parliament. In the 2000 Barbados Independence Honours List, he was awarded the Gold Crown of Merit for law and public service.

Anthony P. La Ronde is a Barrister at Law, Solicitor Mediator and Notary Public and was called to the Bar of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (Dominica) in 1985. As a Barrister at Law and Solicitor he held the positions, on full establishment, as a State Attorney, Parliamentary Draftsman, Chief Parliamentary Draftsman and Attorney General (1995 to 2002) in the Commonwealth of Dominica. From 2005 to 2009 he was the Officer in Charge/Director of the CARICOM Legislative Drafting Facility at the Secretariat. From January 2016 to January 2018, he served the Government of Anguilla in the capacity of Chief Parliamentary Counsel.

The incoming Commissioners have been appointed for a term of five years in the first instance. They join sitting Commissioners Mr. Eversley Decourcey, Mr. Nestor Alfred, Professor Andrew Downes and Emalene Marcus-Burnett.

The CCC was established to enforce Community Competition Policy under Chapter 8 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. The CCC’s principle functions are to apply the rules of competition to anti-competitive cross-border business conduct, promote and protect competition in the Community, and to use advocacy to support and assist Member States in protecting consumers in the CSME.

VACANCIES: CARICOM Competition Commission

March 25, 2019

CARICOM Competition Commission Vacancies

CARICOM Competition Commission 2017 Work Programme - Performance

CARICOM Competition Commission Work Programme 2017

This report highlights the work of the CARICOM Competition Commission (Commission) for  2017, in the areas of competition law and policy, and consumer welfare and protection of consumer interests in the CARICOM region. The work of the Commission is guided by the institution’s mandate under Chapter VIII of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas (RTC). Consequently, the document is structured to highlight the relevant provisions within the RTC under which each activity falls.

For the full report please click here.

OECD-IDB Recognizes the Contribution of the CCC to 2017 LACCF meeting

May 10, 2017

The Commission has been recognized by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for its contribution to the recently concluded 2017 Latin America and Caribbean Competition Forum (LACCF).

For the full letter please click here.

CARICOM Competition Commission 2017 Work Programme - First Quarter Performance

CARICOM Competition Commission 2017 Work Programme - First Quarter Performance

May 2, 2017

This report highlights the work of the CARICOM Competition Commission (Commission) for the first quarter of 2017, in the areas of competition law and policy, and consumer welfare and protection of consumer interests in the CSME. The work of the Commission is guided by the Commission’s mandate under Chapter VIII of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas (RTC). Consequently, the document is structured to highlight the relevant provisions within the RTC under which each activity falls.

For the full report, please click here.

CARICOM Competition Commission Statement for World Consumer Rights Day 2017

On 15 March 2017, the global consumer protection community celebrates World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD). This year the theme for WCRD is "Building a Digital World Consumers can Trust".

For the full statement of the CARICOM Competition Commission please click here

CARICOM Competition Commission Hosts Sensitisation Workshop on Competition Law for Members of Parliament

27 February 2017

Guyana

The Caribbean Community Secretariat (CARICOM) Competition Commission is working towards implementing and strengthening competition laws and policies in all of its member states.

Members of Parliament (MPs) today, participated in a sensitisation exercise which will pave the way for the establishment of the competition culture locally.

The sensitisation workshop was facilitated through the Caribbean Forum of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states (CARIFORUM) and CARICOM.

Chairman of the CARICOM Competition Commission, Dr Kusha Haraksingh said that the sensitisation workshop will contribute to a change in the way business is transacted in Guyana.

For the link to the full article please click here.

Source: CARICOM Secretariat

Appointment of New Commissioners to the CCC

PRESS RELEASE

 January 30, 2017

APPOINTMENT OF NEW COMMISSIONERS TO THE CARICOM COMPETITION COMMISSION

The CARICOM Competition Commission (CCC) is pleased to announce the appointment of two new Commissioners, Professor Andrew Downes and Mrs. Emalene Marcus-Burnett effective January 06, 2017. The Commissioners were sworn in by Sir Dennis Byron, Chairman of the Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission (RJLSC), and witnessed by Dr. Kusha Haraksingh, Chairman of the CCC.

The incoming Commissioners have been appointed for a term of five years in the first instance. They join sitting Commissioners, Chairman Dr. Kusha Haraksingh; Mr. Patterson Keith Herman Cheltenham, G.C.M., Q.C; Mr. Hans Rudolf Lim A Po; Mr. Eversley Decourcey and Mr. Nestor Alfred.

The CCC was established to help enforce the CARICOM Rules of Competition and to regulate competition in the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME). Its principle functions are to apply the rules of competition, promote competition, and to assist Member States to protect consumers.

Professor Andrew Downes was appointed to the Barbados Fair Trading Commission at its inception in 2001, and became Deputy Chairman in 2006. He served as a member of the telecommunications and fair competition/consumer protection panels. An economist and academic by profession, Professor Downes was the Director of the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES), at the University of the West Indies(UWI), Cave Hill Campus, Barbados and  Pro Vice Chancellor for Planning and Development at the UWI.             He is a graduate of the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill in Barbados, where he attained both a Bachelor of Science in Economics and a Master of Science in Economics. He is also a graduate of the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom where he attained a Doctorate in Economics. He is a Fellow of the World Academy of Productivity Science and a Research Associate of the Caribbean Centre for Money and Finance.
Professor Downes was an Advisor to the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery. He has also served as the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Head of the Department of Economics at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, as well as the Chairman of the Cave Hill Campus Research Fund. He has been a member of the Board of the Central Bank of Barbados, a director of the Barbados Port Authority and Chairman of the National Productivity Council. He has served as the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Caribbean Centre for Monetary Studies and a member of the Regional Advisory Group of the Western Hemisphere of the IMF. He is the author of several publications and reports on Caribbean development issues.

Commissioner Emalene Marcus-Burnett holds a BSc. in Economics and Accounting from the University of the West Indies, a MSc. in Financial Economics and an LLM in International Trade Law from the University of London. Her areas of study included Competition Law and Investment Law.
Mrs. Marcus-Burnett has been involved in agriculture policy formulation and analysis, and has extensive experience in trade negotiations, having been involved in, inter alia, the agricultural negotiations under the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and multilateral trade negotiations under the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Mrs. Marcus-Burnett has served as WTO Chair of the Committee on Agriculture (Regular Session) and Rapporteur of the International Labor Organization (ILO) Committee on Youth Unemployment.

CCC's 2016 Performance & 2017 Work Programme

Thursday November 24, 2016

                          CCC's 2016 Performance & 2017 Work Programme

The work of the Commission is guided by the institution's mandate under Chapter VIII of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas (RTC). Therefore the matrix below details the work done in 2016 under three main headings, viz.

•  Competition Law and Policy ;
•  Consumer Welfare and Protection of Consumer Interests; and
• Regional/International Cooperation.

This is followed by the Approved 2017 Work Programme.

For the full document, please click here.

CCC's Chairman Dr. Haraksingh attends the inaugural meeting of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Consumer Protection Law and Policy in Geneva

Tuesday October 18, 2016

                                                         PRESS RELEASE

CCC's Chairman Dr. Haraksingh Attends The Inaugural Meeting Of The Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Consumer Protection Law and Policy in Geneva

Dr. Kusha Haraksingh, Chairman of the CARICOM Competition Commission is participating this week at the special invitation of UNCTAD in the inaugural meeting of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Consumer Protection Law and Policy at the Palais des Nations, Geneva.

The meeting is authorized by a resolution of the UN general Assembly to launch the revised UN guidelines for consumer protection, a set of principles for setting out the main characteristics of effective legislation, enforcement institutions and redress systems. The revised guidelines are of special importance for the Caribbean as unlike the existing 1985 guidelines, they now include disciplines in ecommerce and financial services. Dr. Haraksingh was a member of the working group which advocated the addition of these new areas.

The meeting noted that despite the rapid growth of ecommerce, many consumers are reluctant to take advantage of the available welfare gains because of concerns about the misuse of their personal data. The meeting also noted that improved financial education strategies that promote financial literacy would assist consumers better to understand their rights in the area of financial services and ensure greater transparency and responsible business conduct by financial service providers and their authorized agents.

In Geneva Dr. Haraksingh will also be participating in the UNCTAD Research Partnership Platform of which he is a founding member. This is a group of academics and practitioners concerned with research on issues and challenges faced by developing countries in the area of competition and consumer protection.

Later this week, also at the special invitation of UNCTAD, Dr. Haraksingh will participate in the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Competition Law and Policy. That meeting will examine the interface between competition law and intellectual property issues, the food retail sector, the relationship between competition authorities and the judiciary, and strategies for ensuring private sector compliance with competition law.