Competition Commission’s legal status at risk

ISLAMABAD: The existence of the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) is at risk once again due to the expiry of the Competition Ordinance of 2010. The legal status of the CCP will become a question mark from Tuesday onwards since the ordinance that the commission was formed under has expired.

However, according to a source from within the commission, the federal government has provided assurances that it will put forth and approve the ordinance in the next meeting of the National Assembly.

The source explained that the competition ordinance expired on Monday for the third time and that it is necessary that it be ratified in parliament so that the economic watchdog can continue functioning.

The competition ordinance has been previously successfully tabled in parliament two times.

A senior officer of the CCP, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that although the economic watchdog cannot legally continue its activities following the expiry of the competition ordinance, similar situations have arisen in the past when the ordinance had expired.

He pointed out that the situation was slightly different this time since the ordinance had been approved by the Senate’s standing committee on finance and only parliament’s approval was required to grant the CCP legal status. He further said that various departments of the government, including the finance ministry, have provided assurances that the ordinance will be presented and passed in the next meeting of the National Assembly. He disclosed that the next meeting of the National Assembly is expected to be convened on August 24.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 17^th, 2010.