US Market
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.