Question 946
Mrs P de Lille Independent Democrats (ID) to ask the Minister of Trade and Industry:
(1) Whether the competition commission have registers of all (a) trips that employees or councillors have gone on that have been paid for or sponsored by outside companies and (b) gifts that such persons have received; if not, why not;
(2) Whether he will introduce such a register; if not, why not; if so,
(3) Whether the register will be accessible to the public; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Response:
1. (a) Since April 2008 the following trips took place:
* Three staff members attended Southern African Development Community (SADC) meetings and the costs of their travel and attendance was sponsored by SADC.
* One staff member made a presentation at a workshop on Competition Law in developing countries hosted by the Max Planck Institute in Munich from 29 to 31 January 2009. The travel costs were paid by the Max Planck Institute of Intellectual Property and Competition Law.
* The Deputy Commissioner was requested to make a presentation to analysts on competition matters on 28 August 2008. The airfare and accommodation associated with this trip was sponsored by Mcquarie Securities. This was declared in advance and was recorded.
(b) The competition commission maintains a gift register and all employees are requested to declare any gifts received.
2. The competition commission has a gift register in place.
3. The register will be made available on request from the public and will be dealt with in accordance with the Promotion of Access to Information Act.
Issued by: Department of Trade and Industry
8 September 2009
