Philippines: BAT Calls for Passage of Competition Bill

Source from:  Manila Bulletin  04/25/2014

The British American Tobacco (BAT) Philippines, the maker of Lucky Strike and Pall Mall cigarettes, has joined the clamor for the swift passage of a Fair Trade and Competition bill in the country.

In a statement, James Lafferty, BAT general manager said they support the call recently aired by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) and other business groups urging Congress to give priority to the enactment of this proposed measure.

The proposed fair trade and competition bill has been pushed in previous Congresses, but unfortunately has not been approved.

"As a relatively new entrant and currently still small player in the tobacco industry, we recognize the importance of a robust competition law that can protect the interest of small players.  This is true not only for tobacco but across all industries," Lafferty said.

The BAT official agreed with PCCI's view that such a law is an important piece in the Philippines' economic development and investment attraction program, in light of the various free trade agreements that are about to come into force in the next few years.

"It will make the Philippines more competitive and bring us up a notch towards the level of being a developed market," he explained. "We hope this proposal becomes a priority measure of both the executive and legislative departments."

Several versions of fair trade, competition, and antitrust bills have languished in the past few Congresses without ever being passed into law. While a law continued to be non-existent, Malacanang issued Executive Order No. 45 almost three years ago, establishing the Office for Competition under the Department of Justice.

As the designated Competition Authority, the Department of Justice is supposed to investigate all cases in violation of competition laws, enforce competition policies and protect consumers from abusive businesses, supervise competition in markets, and implement measures promoting transparency and accountability in markets.

Some industry-specific laws have anti-competition and anti-market power abuses clauses, but a comprehensive antitrust law has yet to be passed. Enditem