RELEVANT LEGISLATION AND STATUTORY STANDARDS

Introduction

The law that governs the promotion of competition in Sri Lanka is the Consumer Affairs Authority Act No 9 of 2003 (‘the 2003 Act’). The 2003 Act came into force and operation on 17 March 2003. Amongst other things, the Act repealed the Fair Trading Commission Act, which had previously governed the promotion of competition. The Fair Trade Commission Act had contained separate provisions relating specifically to monopolies, mergers and anti-competitive practices. The merger provisions contained, among other things, notification requirements, provisions defining a merger situation, provisions requiring the application of ‘control or dominance of the market’ and ‘public-interest’ tests, and so on. The 2003 Act, however, does not contain specific provisions relating to mergers (or monopolies).

The 2003 Act deals only with the promotion of competition. The long title describes it as ‘an Act … to provide … for the promotion of effective competition’. One of the functions of the Consumer Affairs Authority set up under the 2003 Act is to ‘investigate and inquire into anti-competitive practices and abuses of a dominant position’; another is the function to ‘maintain and promote effective competition between persons supplying goods and services’.