The fearsome powers of South Africa’s competition-related market inquiries are among the reasons that the country’s poultry industry does not like the market inquiry which will investigate the workings and structure of the industry.
The poultry industry sees the inquiry, which will be conducted by the Competition Commission, as a threat to the integrated structure of the industry, where large producers have operations that span feed production, poultry breeding and the production and marketing of poultry products.
This is how efficient poultry producers operate around the globe, says Izaak Breitenbach of the SA Poultry Association. The fear is that the Competition Commission will seek to break up the large corporations.
The commission’s powers were set out in an article in the financial newspaper Business Day.
“Since amendments to the Competition Act in 2019, the commission has been granted the authority to conduct market inquiries and to issue enforceable rulings with which businesses must comply,” the newspaper reported.
“There is mounting concern about the number of investigations it conducts as well the breadth of its powers, which effectively allow the authority to interfere in the free market.
“The commission is empowered to establish regulations or set guidelines for entities in various sectors, such as determining whether owners are obliged to sell off particular interests in their enterprises or regulating pricing strategies for consumers.”
Business Day said that five companies are appealing against the findings of the commission’s online intermediation platforms market inquiry, the first in which the commission had the power to make enforceable recommendations.
Booking.com, Apple, Uber Eats, Private Property and Famous Brands are appealing against the findings and the commission’s instructions on the way they must conduct their business in South Africa. The commission is engaging with the parties with a view to resolving the issues, the newspaper reported.
Image: Competition Commissioner Doris Tshepe, courtesy of the Competition Commission of South Africa
