Competition and Consumer Affairs Commission

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 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.