The Competition Commission of Guyana was established under the Competition and Fair Trading Act (CFTA) of 2006. Thereafter, the Consumer Affairs Act (CAA) of 2011 was established, mandating in Section four (4) that: The Competition Commission established by section 5 of the Competition and Fair Trading Act 2006 is renamed the Competition and Consumer Affairs Commission. Originally, the Agency was named the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. However, the National Competitiveness Council suggested that the Agency be renamed to Competition and Consumer Affairs Commission (CCAC), so as to encompass a broader scope and maintain regional and international standards.
In August 2009, a decision was taken by the National Competitiveness Council to merge the Competition Commission with a Consumer Affairs Commission, in keeping with international and regional best practices. This merger was completed with the passing of the Consumer Affairs Act (CAA) in September 2011.
The National Competitiveness Strategy Unit (NCSU) applied for and received grant financing from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB)-administered CART Fund to establish and operationalize the Secretariat of the CCAC. On January 5, 2010 the Government of Guyana and the CDB signed a CART Fund Grant Agreement (No. 21/GUY) Establishment of the Competition and Consumer Affairs Commission of Guyana. The amount of financing provided by the Grant was USD $742,225. The objective of the project was to assist in strengthening the regulatory and institutional frameworks on competition in Guyana to ensure effective and sound competition policies and rule of enforcement. This was to ensure that trade liberalization benefits to be gained by Guyana from the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and other trade processes are not undermined by the anticompetitive behaviour of firms.
In January 2010, the Government of Guyana allocated office space for the Commission's Secretariat in the National Exhibition Site, Sophia. In 2011 the Commission was fully operational. The CCAC Secretariat is headed by a Director who oversees the Competition Policy Unit and the Consumer Affairs Unit as well as the administrative and finance functions of the Commission.
We are here to ensure that consumer affairs and free and fair competition are evident in production, trade and commerce in Guyana.
