ICCC INVITES COMMENTS ON PROPOSED WHISTLE BLOWER PROGRAM TO COMBAT CARTELS
The Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (“ICCC”) invites all stakeholders to provide comments on its proposed Whistle Blower Program (“WBP” or “program”) to combat cartels in Papua New Guinea.
ICCC Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Paulus Ain said the ICCC has recently released a Discussion Paper on Cartels that is intended to get comments and views from business community, government agencies, relevant stakeholders and the general public on the development of its proposed Whistle Blower Program.
Mr. Ain said the ICCC has embarked on developing various tools to assist it in its efforts to detect cartels and dismantle their operations and stop such anti-competitive practices to protect businesses and consumers in PNG.
“One of the tools the ICCC had developed is the Leniency Policy which is aimed at providing incentives for cartel members to report their wrongdoing for a lesser or no penalties. The ICCC is now proposing to develop the Whistle Blower Program as another tool to uncover cartels,” Mr. Ain said.
“By encouraging individuals to come forward, we can better detect and prevent cartel practices that harm the economy and consumers”.
“Therefore, we are calling on all the stakeholders to review the Discussion paper and provide their feedback which will assist the ICCC to develop the program.”
The WBP is encouraged and used by many competition authorities around the world to assist them in their efforts to detect cartels. The WBP basically supports and provides incentives for individuals who are not members of a cartel, such as employees, officials, customers and other members of the public, to report suspicious cartel activities. The program also ensures informants or “Whistle Blowers,” are protected from reprisals.
Cartels are agreements between businesses (competitors) that collude or cooperate to limit competition, often engaging in anticompetitive practices such as price fixing, bid rigging, output restriction or controlling the amount of goods and services available to customers, and market sharing. Such actions not only harm fair competition but also have detrimental effects on consumers, businesses, and the overall economy. These anti-competitive behaviours are prohibited under the Independent Consumer and Competition Commission Act 2002 (ICCC Act).
The Discussion Paper will be available on the ICCC’s website and can also be obtained directly from the ICCC head office including its regional offices. All written submissions are due by 4:00 p.m. on or before the 7th of November 2024.