CCP to take sugar mills to court

CCP Chairman Khalid Mirza said that hearing of the case against the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association has been completed.

Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) Chairman Khalid Mirza has said that hearing of the case against the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association and sugar mills involved in cartelisation has been completed and that the findings will soon be submitted to the Sindh High Court.

In an interview with The Express Tribune, he suggested that the pricing of sugar should be encouraged on the basis of competition by ending government control on prices.

In order to balance the price of sugar in the open market the government should keep a strategic reserve in its custody and release limited quantities of sugar when needed, he suggested.

The chairman stressed that in order to ensure a competitive business environment, the CCP needed to be an independent and self-reliant body. However, in the current setup the CCP relies on government funding which compromises its institutional autonomy.

He said that the Sugar Mills Association had managed to obtain a stay order from Lahore High Court and Sindh High Court in the case filed against them but the CCP pursued the matter to the Supreme Court and acquired permission to continue the enquiry.

Consequently, CCP will not pronounce the decision itself rather it will be submitted to the Sindh High Court since the court is opening the hearing of this case.

Mirza revealed that currently the Trading Corporation and sugar mills have more than 1.3 million tons of sugar in reserves. Citing a recently published report, he explained that the price of white sugar in the world market had already started to rise as Muslim countries had begun purchasing in bulk ahead of Ramazan.

In response to a question, he claimed that CCP had started conducting comprehensive country-wide studies on 15 different sectors of the economy. The studies on four sectors including banking, sugar, civil aviation and cement have already been completed and reports have been issued. Studies on the automobile, private education and private schooling sectors are near completion and reports are likely to be issued before July 25.

Talking about the CCP bill, Mirza said that he was hundred per cent sure that the current government is sincere about getting the bill passed in the assembly and wants to see it as an Act.

Commenting about the prospect of extension in his tenure as chairman, Mirza said he was not hopeful that the government would grant him an extension as it is a big step to take and also involves legal proceedings. Mirza reaches retirement age on July 25.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 3^rd, 2010.