Bangladesh Country Advocacy Document

Iftekar AhmedSenior Research Fellow, BEI

September 27, 2005

Competition Law/Policy in Bangladesh

• No Competition Policy• Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practice

(Control and Prevention) Ordinance, 1970• Has not been implemented but still valid• Ordinance prohibits

– Undue concentration of individual economic power

– Unreasonable monopoly power– Unreasonable restrictive trade practices

MRTP Ordinance 1970• Relevant phrases are not properly

explained• Provides for the creation of a Monopoly

Control Authority to enforce the provisions of the Ordinance, but was never constituted

• Never been implemented• If revived needs amendments• Need for a new law

Most Prevalent Anti-Competitive Practices in Bangladesh

0%10%20%30%40%50%

Challenges

• Challenges to instituting a competition regime are enormous

• No quick and simple remedy that will be immediately effective across the board

• Even if a law is drafted, past experiece shows poor implementation with weak enforcement

Develop Constituency

• Targeted stakeholders for advocacy and capacity building– Government

• sensitize and motivate– Business

• demonstrate benefits of a competition regime– Media

• galvanize wider public understanding and support– Consumers

• empower to champion and act as pressure group

Three-Step Process

Step 1: Create demand– Raise awareness of stakeholders

Step 2: Draft/Amend/Adopt Law– capacity building of policy makers– wide consultation

Step 3: Implementation and enforcement of law– capacity building of the Competition Authority

Strategy 1: Target Sectors

• Identify priority sectors

• Selection Criteria:– High visibility– Wide impact– Rapid implementation– Demonstrable benefits

Strategy 2: Information Cell

• Create an Information Cell and Consumer Hotline

• Monitor abuses of market power• Generate competition status reports• Provide dialogue space for stakeholders

Strategy 3: Consumer Awareness

• Information dissemination• Conduct training on competition issues

StrategiesStep 1 Step 2 Step 3

Strategy 3:

Strategy 2:

Strategy 1:Target Sectors

Information Cell

Consumer Awareness

Create Demand Draft Law Implement Law

consumer

business

market

informed consumer

informationcellMedia

CompetitionAuthority

BusinessAssoc.

civil society

gove

rnm

ent

competition regime