Office for Fair Trading (Malta) brings together the official and independent authorities responsible for the enforcement of the national and

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

legislation on trade competition as well as on

consumer protection Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent business ...

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. As such, its scope is wider than the nearly homonymous official bodies like the

Office of Fair Trading The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) was a non-ministerial government department of the United Kingdom, established by the Fair Trading Act 1973, which enforced both consumer protection and competition law, acting as the United Kingdom's economic ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and of the states of

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, which are almost exclusively focused on competition matters, a task undertaken more specifically in Malta by units within the frame of the Office through the Consumer and Competition Division; the Office for Fair Competition and the Commission for Fair Trading. Its director, the Director for Fair Competition, has wide investigatory powers facilitating the collection of evidence. The premises of the Maltese Office for Fair Trading are based in

Santa Venera Santa Venera is a town in the Central Region of Malta, with a population of 8,834 (2021). It is located between the towns of Birkirkara and Ħamrun, and it also borders Qormi and Msida. History The Old Church of Santa Venera was built in 1473 ...

. The Office's Consumer and Competition Division is one of the entities that emerged from the remit of the former Ministry for Competitiveness and Communications following an operations review carried out in 2000.

Competition law enforcement

Maltese law has no express provisions dealing specifically with actions for damages for breaches of

competition law Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...

and there are no specialised Courts that deal with actions for damages consequent to a breach. However, a party who suffers damages consequent to a breach of EC and/or national competition law may rely on the general provisions of the Maltese Civil Code dealing with the concept of damages and therefore the ordinary courts are competent. The Commission for Fair Trading may become involved in the proceedings and the question whether there has been an abuse of a dominant position by an undertaking or whether an agreement is null and unenforceable must be referred to the Commission for Fair Trading.

Consumer law enforcement

The most widely used means of consumer redress in Malta is the out-of-court procedure through the Department of Consumer Affairs within the Consumer and Competition Division. The scheme serves both as an information relay on particular consumer matters and in issues concerning the purchase of goods or services, it also acts as an out-of-court redress procedure. Another out-of-court consumer redress scheme is operated by the Malta Financial Services Authority, dealing specifically with financial services through the Consumer Complaints Manager. There are also two in-court simplified mechanisms, which can be used by consumers in solving business-to-consumer disputes, but only one of these has been specifically designed for the purpose. These are the Small Claims Tribunal and the Consumer Claims Tribunal, the latter being the one specifically designed for resolving consumer disputes.

Controversies

The Office's anti-cartel policy and its effectiveness is a widely debated topic in Malta as it became apparent during a recent investigation on and the controversies surrounding the conditions of liberalization in the market for

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References

External links

Structure

Contact details
{{authority control Government agencies of Malta Consumer organisations in Malta