ICCC planning expansion

THE Independent Consumer and Competition Commission is expanding its service to cater for the majority of consumers living outside Port Moresby, according to Commissioner Paulus Ain.
The commission is conducting an awareness campaign around the country and making arrangements with provincial governments.
“What we are seeing is that Port Moresby is not Papua New Guinea. The mass of the population is back in the villages and the rural areas,” Ain, pictured, said.
“We covered the 21 provinces last year and now we are going into arrangements and giving some of our roles and functions back to the provincial centres.
“We identify their own officers who are capable of this. They are called business development officers.”
Ain noted the constraining enforcement powers the Commission requires to fully carry out its role and called on greater inter-government cooperation to allow for this.
“I wish we had all the powers to deal with things like junk food and fake products and other things,” he said.
“It is just that we don’t have the full legal basis to do things. For instance we get into a shop and they ask where are our powers to do this. And sure enough the enforcement part rests with another government agency.
“If all the relevant government agencies could work together as team and say this agency does this so that collective and effective enforcement is done.
“We are doing what we can within our means and legislative boundaries to operate within for the consumers.”