SAN advocates establishment of laws to promote fair trading

SAN advocates establishment of laws to promote fair trading.

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Dr Kemi Pinheiro, on Thursday called on state governments to establish laws capable of promoting fair trading and prohibiting anti-competitive practises.

Pinheiro made the call in Kano during the 46th Annual General Meeting of the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA).

He said that the Nigerian travel market could be properly protected and upscaled when the fair trading laws were put in place and fully implemented across the country.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the theme of the AGM is: “Antitrust: Opportunities Available for Protection of the Nigeria Travel Market”.

Pinheiro said the establishment of such laws was important to strengthen travel trade businesses in Nigeria, as antitrust policies must be put in place to boost and protect local content.

“This will discourage monopolies and encourage open access to premium market,” he said.

He stressed that the local travel agents had been confronted with challenges like lack of proper regulatory mechanism, anti-competitive behaviour of international airlines, impersonators and partiality.

According to him, to tackle these challenges, there must be laws put in place to ensure fair trading, monitor trading practises and prohibit anti-competitive practices to distort competition within each state of the federation.

“This will be advantageous to all consumers and service providers including travel agents.

“States need to become proactive in creating consumer protection agencies and councils for the protection of their consumer rights,” he said.

Also, Mr Nureni Jimoh, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, said NANTA must position itself properly by ensuring that all practicing travel agents were made to be dully registered.

“With this, NANTA will dramatically increase its voice and funds.NANTA has to take up more collective bargaining with airlines and the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

“NANTA could boycott a particular airline that comes up with monopolistic and anti-competitive practises.

“And put pressure on the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to seek redress, which would in turn put pressure on airlines to comply with laid down regulation on fair market practises in Nigeria,” he said.

Jimoh lamented over an observation that Nigerian airline operators usually accepted old aircraft, saying that they must put an end to this.

He said that Nigerian travel tickets were more expensive compared to the other climes, urging the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to wade into this.

Mrs Susan Akporiaye, NANTA’s National President, said, “Our theme for the AGM is reflective of our collective desire to have an industry responsive to equity and justice, without which we may not sustainably drive and operate in a very profitable travel trade economy.”