Concurrent Jurisdiction in Competition Law Enforcement in Tanzania with Some Lessons from the United Kingdom and South Africa

Abstract

The enactment of concurrent jurisdiction between the
Fair Competition Commission and the economic
regulatory authorities in Tanzania after adoption of
market economy principles in economic management
was not an anomaly but a necessary undertaking. This
paper attempts to show that the fact that competition
authorities use different rules from those used by
regulatory authorities both sets of institutions can
facilitate competition. The concurrent jurisdiction
guidance provided in the laws governing the existing
economic regulatory institutions provide that where two
legally mandated institutions coincide in dealing with an
issue, no law overrides the other unless it is expressly
stated in the relevant legislation. In such a situation the
issue is referred to the Minister.
The paper’s main suggestion is that concurrent
jurisdiction in the Acts presupposed a single oversight
Ministry for both FCA and regulatory authorities which is
currently not the case in Tanzania today. Drawing
lessons from similar authorities in the United Kingdom
and South Africa, this paper has proposed that Tanzania should establish a Tanzania Competition Network (TCN)
to act as forum for cooperation between FCC, economic
regulatory authorities and Government officials
responsible for competition and regulatory issues.

Key Words: Competition, concurrent jurisdiction, competition
authorities, oversight Ministry, economic regulatory
authorities.