OECS COMMISSION WORKING TO STREAMLINE COMPETITION POLICY AND ENFORCEMENT ACROSS MEMBERS STATES

BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, FEBRUARY 18, 2025 (SKNIS) – The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Commission is seeking to strengthen and promote fair competition across its Member States for enhanced economic efficiency and consumer welfare. This is being accomplished through the staging of a two-day High-Level Workshop on Competition Policy and Law Enforcement.

The February 17-18, 2025, workshop is being conducted by the OECS Commission in collaboration with the Ministry of Trade, Industry, Commerce & Consumer Affairs in St. Kitts and Nevis, and the CARICOM Competition Commission (CCC) under the 11th EDF-RIGHT Project.

Minister responsible for International Trade, Industry, Commerce and Consumer Affairs, the Right Honourable Dr. Denzil Douglas, while delivering remarks at the opening ceremony on February 17, underscored the importance of trade to the economies of the Caribbean region.  

Senior Minister Douglas, in his remarks, gave the assurance that the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis remains committed to stimulating economic activity through the day-to-day transaction of purchases and providing an enabling environment to allow businesses to be profitable.

“However, profitability must not infringe upon the rights of consumers, nor should it be accompanied by business practices that are geared at placing other companies within the market at a disadvantage to another, thus distorting fair competition which we believe is important,” Dr. Douglas said.

With the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis being a signatory to the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, Senior Minister Douglas said that the Federation has obligated itself to ensure national competition laws are enacted in order to stamp out any trace of anti-competitive business practices which may exist locally.

“As we continue to navigate the global financial challenges brought about by external factors such as wars and supply chain disruptions, we must endeavour to correct this deficiency. Failing to do so can potentially inflict further harm to the consumers within our own single market space by allowing the possibility of business practices to exist that would ultimately result in additional increases to the prices of consumer goods, thus creating further hardship for our people,” the minister said, reiterating his call for advanced discussions on competition policy regulations for the OECS region.

Organisers are hoping that the two days of discussions will result in the creation of an agreed legislative and institutional design for competition policy enforcement, as well as a roadmap and action plan to implement the said design.

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