Seek Advice

It is CCCS’s statutory duty to advise government agencies on national needs and policies in respect of competition matters. CCCS has advised on a wide range of competition issues, including the impact of specific government initiatives on competition in the affected markets, the structure of public procurement to encourage greater competition between suppliers, the supply of goods and services by the government, and government divestments. A sample of CCCS’s past advice to government agencies can be found here.

CCCS’s assessment will discuss the impact of the proposed initiative on competition in the affected market(s), and where possible, identify ways to alleviate these competition concerns. The government agencies will then be able to weigh CCCS’s advice on competition issues against any other relevant considerations in the process of formulating their initiative.

Government agencies are encouraged to approach CCCS early during the formulation of their initiatives so that CCCS can provide its advice in a timely manner. In turn, government agencies can adequately evaluate the impact of the competition concerns and explore alternative policy options if necessary. To assist government agencies to understand the competition impact of their initiatives, CCCS has published the "Government and Competition: A Toolkit for Government Agencies" and the "Competition Impact Assessment Checklist".

Approach CCCS for assistance

Government agencies that wish to seek CCCS’s advice on competition issues can provide the required information using this Information Template and direct their request to the Government Advocacy and Markets Division.

Providing information to CCCS

CCCS will generally keep the advisory process confidential and will not request for information from, or consult with, private third-parties unless it has the consent of the requesting government agency to seek feedback from third parties. The relevance and usefulness of CCCS’s inputs will therefore depend critically on the quality of the information provided by the requesting government agency.