The Development Academy of the Philippines, in partnership with the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC), has integrated the Competition Impact Assessment (CIA) in the Advanced Course on Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) being conducted by the Modernizing Government Regulations (MGR) Program.

With the goal of contributing to the improvement of competitiveness of the Philippines through regulatory governance reform, the MGR Program aims to strengthen the institutional capability of government regulatory bodies on regulatory management and good regulatory practices. Considering that regulations may sometimes restrict competition, there is a need for the government to ensure market competition at all levels. Competition-restricting regulations have substantial impact on businesses and consumers as these may create unintended monopolies and anti-competitive outcomes.

The PCC has developed the CIA to help review government regulations through the lens of competitive impact on markets, identify those that potentially restrict competition, and develop alternative options that cause less or no harm to competition. To promote competition, protect consumers, and prevent the abuse of market power through regulatory reform, the PCC and DAP partnered up to support the practice of CIA in public sector organizations particularly those regulatory agencies undergoing training on RIA. Through the integration of CIA in the conduct of capability development activities on RIA, the partnership will strengthen the practice of RIA by enhancing the assessment parameters to include possible anti-competitive effect of policy options.

The inclusion of the CIA was first introduced during the 14th Advanced Course on RIA which was attended by a total of 53 participants from the DTI-Strategic Trade Management Office, Province of Guimaras, LGU Iligan City, City Government of Legazpi, and Municipal Government of Santa Barbara on 20-24 September 2021 via Zoom.

Succeeding batches of the Advanced Course on RIA for Priority Agencies of the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) incorporated the CIA, as well. Batch 6 was attended by 53 representatives from the Fair Trade Enforcement Bureau, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, and ARTA on 16-19 November 2021 via Zoom.

For Batch 7, there were 64 attendees from the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority, Philippine Fiber Industry Development Authority, Philippine Coconut Authority, Sugar Regulatory Administration, Forest Management Bureau, Biodiversity Management Bureau, and ARTA on 23-26 November 2021 via Zoom. The participants were able to perform a detailed RIA and develop a Regulatory Impact Statement with a section on CIA for their existing and/or proposed regulations.

To register for upcoming activities of the Program, kindly visit https://mgr.dap.edu.ph/events/.

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