Office for Fair Competition 'has lost its independence'

The Malta Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprise - GRTU has complained to the European Commission that the Office for Fair Competition forms part of the civil service, a situation made worse recently when the head of the office was also appointed permanent secretary of the Competitiveness Ministry.

In a letter, the GRTU said promises had been made to the representatives of the commercial and industrial sectors that the office would no longer form part of the public service but be established as a semi-autonomous public regulatory office. Despite the promises, however, the office was still an integrated part of the civil service.

On October 20, Marcel Pizzuto was appointed permanent secretary in the Competitiveness Ministry on the retirement of Louis Cilia. He temporarily retains his position as director general of the ministry's Consumer and Competition Division - under whose wing the Office for Fair Competition operates - until a replacement is found.

To the GRTU this represents a further deterioration of the situation.

The GRTU also complained about the present structure under which the OFC, rather than a separate entity with specific responsibility for competition, merger and anti-trust rules, was a sub-section of the division.

The effective result of this merged structure was that the OFC had lost its significance and its independent and autonomous authority, it claimed.

The GRTU asked EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes to look into the situation and issue directives to the government to take immediate remedial action and establish the OFC as an independent autonomous public regulatory authority with responsibility only for the monitoring and implementation of EU competition, merger and anti-trust rules.

Competitiveness Minister Censu Galea said Mr Pizzuto was only occupying both posts until a replacement as director general of the Consumer and Competition Division can be found.

Procedures in the civil service were somewhat lengthy and that was the only reason why Mr Pizzuto still held both posts, Mr Galea said.

Lawyer Michael Tanti Dougall, who had drawn up the Competition Act, said he personally saw the position as a conflicting one because the government still had an interest in certain entities which could be in breach of competition rules and where an investigation might be required.

He said he knew that the government was actively seeking a replacement to head the office but a replacement should start to be sought before a person was promoted or retired.

The Consumer and Competition Division was set up following an operations review carried out in 2000. As a result of the review the Department of Consumer Affairs and the Office for Fair Competition were amalgamated into the division.

The division is responsible for the enforcement of the Competition Act, the Consumer Affairs Act, the Trade Descriptions Act, the Doorstep Contracts Act and the Product Safety Act.

It is made up of three directorates, namely that of Policy and Regulatory Services, Operations and Information and Client Affairs.