The Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority (MCCAA) has number of key of functions: promote and enhance competition policy; promote and enhance consumer policy; act as the national standards body and provide standardisation-related services; prepare and implement the national metrology study; and ensure the smooth transposition and adoption of technical regulations.
The MCCAA would consist of a board of governors and four independent entities. The board of governors will be presided over by a chairman and will be composed of seven other members. Its role will be to establish policy and guarantee the independence of each of the four entities. All four entities will have a distinct role to play.
Each entity will be entrusted with full decision-making powers within its own individual remit.
The four entities will be the: the Office for Competition; the Office for Consumer Affairs; the Technical Regulations Division and the Standards and Metrology Institute.
The Office for Competition would act as the guardian of competition in all the markets. It would aim to detect, investigate and curtail anticompetitive and restrictive practices, like cartels, and abuse of dominance by undertakings on the market. It would also examine concentrations.
Competition law would be strengthened on various grounds in order to safeguard competition.
The Office for Competition would act as the “advocate of competition” by providing advice on the competition implications arising from legislative proposals, policies and administrative practices in the Public Sector.
The Office for Consumer Affairs would focus on education and the dissemination of information on consumer rights. It will be responsible for stimulating good trading practices; strengthening trust between consumers and traders; offering assistance to consumers; providing mediation between consumers and traders with the aim of resolving problems at minimal cost and in no time; investigating and curbing unfair trading practices and unfair contract terms; ensuring price transparency and compliance; and ensuring the safeguarding of consumer interests in the drafting of legislation, policies and administrative practices.
The Office for Consumer Affairs and the Office for Competition would be able to undertake market studies with a view to identify and rectify market failures and to recommend remedial action.
The Technical Regulations Division would be responsible for: the transposition and implementation of legislation and for the setting up of technical committees in various fields; disseminating information about regulations and standards; providing training on technical regulations; carrying out risk assessments; co-ordinating market surveillance; ensuring that only goods conforming to regulations are available on the market; recalling goods that do not conform to regulations; and monitoring the implementation and following-up the Services Act.
The Standards and Metrology Institute would be responsible for: the drafting of standards; the transposition of European and international standards; advising and informing industry about issues related to national standards; certification; industrial metrology; legal metrology; and the management and all the operations of the Malta National Laboratory.