The East African Community Competition Authority (Authority) is an institution of the East African Community (EAC) established in accordance with Article 9 of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community (Treaty).
The establishment of the Authority is also provided by section 37 of the East African Community Competition Act, 2006 (the Act). The EAC Competition Act, 2006 came into force on the 1st day of December, 2014,
The Protocol on the Establishment of the East African Community Customs Union in Article 21 (1) provides that Partner States shall prohibit any practice that adversely affects trade including any agreement, undertaking or concerted practice which has as its objective or effect the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition within the Community. Additionally, Article 33(1) of the Protocol on the Establishment of the East African Community Common Market Protocol provides that Partner States shall prohibit any practices that adversely affect free trade.
The EAC common market strategic thrust is to create one flawless single market across the Partner States. Therefore, competition policy is important to prevent abuse arising from a market-based economy resulting from operationalization of the common market.
The Act applies to all economic activities and sectors having cross border effect. Therefore, the Authority has extra-territorial jurisdiction within the EAC Common Market. Further, the Act provides that the Authority and the Partner States shall co-operate in its implementation and Partner States shall support the activities of the Authority.
One of the notable benefits of the EAC competition law regime is that it introduces a “one stop shop” for cross border transactions thereby easing the cost of doing business in the EAC Common Market. The transactions as such, no longer need to be notified in two or more jurisdictions.
