Govt to monitor anti-competitive behavior

The government is now hoping that open competition will result in competitive prices for various goods sold to consumers.Attorney General and Acting Finance Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said their main focus will be to monitor anti-competitive behavior to ensure that everyone benefits.He also revealed the merger of Prices and Incomes Board (PIB) and the Department of Fair Trading with the Commerce Commission.Sayed-Khaiyum said government's decision to reject a proposal from the PIB to include the 24 items under the Counter Inflation Act by the end of this month was necessary.He said 146 items have also been removed from price surveillance and this is to ensure that competition determines the best prices for consumers.He said more can be achieved both for consumers and businesses with competition which is now evident in Fiji's telecommunications sector.PIB had announced earlier this month that they were proposing to add another 24 essential household items under the Price Control list. It said that this was based on a directive by Prime Minister and Finance Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama due to the growing concern with the general trend of disparities in the prices of certain basic food items. PIB had given 14 days for submissions.However, Sayed-Khaiyum said the Finance Ministry sits on the board of PIB and a policy decision has now been made that the 24 items should not be included in the Price Control list.Meanwhile, the 146 items that have been removed from price surveillance are locally manufactured items.Under price surveillance, manufacturers had to give 12 weeks written notice of any proposed increase in ex-factory or wholesale price of goods. The manufacturers do not have to do that after the items were removed from price surveillance.The 146 items include locally manufactured ice cream, beer, cigarettes, local fertilizer, galvanized tubes and pipes, cartons, snacks and paper bags.