August deadline set for merger of FTC, CAC
Published:Friday | February 25, 2022 | 12:09 AM
Minister of Industry, Investment, and Commerce Aubyn Hill has set a summer deadline for the merger of the Fair Trading Commission, FTC, and the Consumer Affairs Commission, CAC, hastening the process, which began four years ago, amid rising prices and a shift in the commercial landscape towards more digital activities.
A nine-member transition committee was appointed last year for the merger of both entities. The committee has since been working through administrative processes, including revision of job descriptions and job assignments, while awaiting the consolidation of the two offices into a single site at 17-19 Connolly Avenue in Kingston.
The merger will also require legislative amendments.
Both the CAC and the FTC operate under separate statutes – the Consumer Protection Act and the Fair Trading Act. Embedded within the two pieces of legislation are provisions that are similar in nature, but there are areas where the FTC and CAC clash in their handling of specific issues.
“The legal framework is being treated at the policy level, and the merger committee is waiting to be guided on some of those nuances and when they will change,” Chairman of the CAC and FTC, Donovan White, said in an update on the merger during a press briefing on Thursday.
The decision to merge the agencies was made by the Cabinet on June 4, 2018. The Transformation Implementation Unit conducted a review of both organisations and forwarded their findings and recommendations in June 2020.
The adoption of recommendations for the merger took place in the midst of the disruptive COVID-19 pandemic.
Still, amid the fallout in business, economies and households, some have found opportunities in the chaos through acquisitions and mergers, and by shifting their business online. However, for Jamaica, the growth of e-commerce comes with connectivity issues and security concerns — areas that both the FTC and CAC will continue to keep watch on. Other priority areas for the agencies in fiscal year 2022/23 will be cost of living, banking fees, electricity and gasolene prices.
“I’m emphasising on the very urgent and swift merger of both entities. You have a timeline of six months and we hope you can beat the timeline, because clearly we want to get the efficiencies of the mergers and progress in serving the people of Jamaica,” Hill said during the press briefing. That six months ends in August.
The FTC has been focusing on markets that are most impacted by the recovery of the economy. Accordingly, it has been prioritising areas such as construction, energy and electricity, telecommunications, finance, as well as online and e-commerce facilities. Meanwhile, the CAC, which is mandated to foster ethical relations between providers and consumers of goods and services in the Jamaican marketplace, has brought in $24 million in compensation for customers year-to-date, doubling the payouts for the comparative period in 2021.
Neither the expected cost of the merger nor the cost savings from the combination of the state agencies has been disclosed.