Africa-Press – Namibia. THE Namibian Competition Act 2 of 2003’s mandate is to safeguard and promote competition in the Namibian market.
This law is basically a body of rules on how companies should compete in the markets they operate in.
The purpose of this law is to promote and safeguard undistorted fair competition, and to punish business conduct that undermines innovation and harms consumers.
Given this broad mandate, it is of cardinal importance that compliance with the competition law is one of the key aspects of achieving the mandate.
In this context, education and sharing information on how and why it is necessary for market participants to comply with competition law is crucial.
The Competition Act encourages businesses to better themselves, while positively impacting consumers who have a better range of products and services to choose from due to market competition.
Consequently it is important for businesses to remain compliant with competition law to ensure the market is dynamic and valuable.
In the words of Warren Buffett: “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you will do things differently.”
Compliance, with competition law thus makes good business sense.
Competition law seeks to create a level playing field so that vibrant, competitive, and innovative markets can develop.
The law assists in fostering innovation by pushing businesses to constantly improve, bringing in new equipment and products which are competitive, and offering consumers a wide choice.
Getting things wrong affects the bottom line.
Fines can be imposed of up to 10% of your business’ worldwide turnover for a single infringement, customers may sue you for damages if they have been affected by illegal practices, and individuals can have their reputations, and in some cases careers destroyed.
Compliance helps prevent or mitigate exposure.
Competition law compliance puts you ahead of the game and helps you fight others who are not playing by the rules.
By having a credible approach to competition law compliance, your company could enjoy a strong corporate culture and employee commitment to business integrity.
Doing the right thing in competition law compliance requires any business to follow five critical elements to tackling competition law compliance:
• Commitment: The most critical success factor in establishing a compliance culture is the tone from the top. All leaders and senior managers must make a clear, visible, and personal commitment to doing the right thing, so all employees are confident about making the right choices and speaking up. A well-publicised statement helps embed commitments to integrity and compliance with the law.
• Identify your risk profile: You must understand the real competition law risks your business is faced with.
• Mitigate your risks: Deploy appropriate controls to mitigate your risks.
• Review how you are doing: Decide how you check in practice that everyone representing your company is really complying with the law, and, if needed, improve your policies and controls where concerns emerge.
• Keep it up: Nothing ever stands still. Constantly renew your commitment to doing the right thing so compliance becomes part of the way your company does business and reflects your company’s evolving risk profile.
If you are not sure whether or not the conduct you are involved in as a business complies with competition law, kindly contact the Namibian Competition Commission for advice.
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