CFTC JOINS THE INTERNATIONAL CONSUMER PROTECTION ENFORCEMENT NETWORK (ICPEN)

The Competition and Fair Trading Commission has been accepted as a partner of the International Consumer Protection Enforcement Network (ICPEN) with effect from the 2017/18 financial year.

ICPEN is a membership organization consisting of consumer protection law enforcement authorities from across the world. ICPEN provides a forum for developing and maintaining regular contact between consumer protection agencies and focusing on consumer protection concerns.

Making the announcement ahead of the 2017 Best Practices Conference, ICPEN President Mr Ahmet Erdal, said the Network was delighted to welcome the Malawi Competition and Fair Trading Commission to ICPEN.

"We are pleased to inform you that Malawi has been accepted as a Partner for ICPEN. We would like to take the opportunity to welcome the Malawi Competition and Fair Trading Commission (CFTC) to ICPEN and look forward to a close cooperation in the future", said Erdal.

Reacting to the news, CFTC Executive Director, Charlotte Wezi Malonda said she was very delighted that the Commission's application to join the network had been accepted after thorough scrutiny by the ICPEN membership.

Malonda said the partnership will enable the CFTC participate in the activities of the network and benefit from the experiences and expertise of other consumer protection authorities.

"ICPEN is a vibrant network, with a long history of consumer law enforcement. As a developing  organisation, the CFTC will be able to dialogue and learn from consumer protection experts from other jurisdictions across the world. Through cooperation with other consumer protection agencies, ICPEN will help the Commission achieve its vision of being a distinguished market regulator with strong enforcement measures for cross-border consumer protection issues", Malonda said.

ICPEN becomes the fourth international network on competition and consumer protection which the Commission joined in order to further law enforcement and compliance. The CFTC is already an active member of the International Competition Network (ICN); African Competition Forum (ACF) and African Dialogue on Consumer Protection - a network of state and non-state owned consumer protection authorities in Africa.

Apart from these international networks, the CFTC also established bilateral partnerships with the COMESA Competition Commission, Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) of Zambia and the Fair Competition Commission (FTC) of Tanzania. Further, the Commission is a signatory of the SADC Declaration on Regional Cooperation on Competition and Consumer Policies.

For more information, contact the Commission on 01 759 506 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.