Exploring the Effectiveness of Pakistan’s Competition Law in Mitigating Price Manipulation and Trade Barriers in the Pharmaceutical Market

Abstract

The objective of this research study is to analyze how well Pakistan’s competition law works in addressing the issue of pricing and other restrictive trade practices in the pharmaceutical industry. The pharmaceutical industry in Pakistan is important for ensuring public health, but it is also prone to some grave issues like the manipulation of drug prices and other forms of trade protectionism which is prejudicial to the general consumers and the economy. In order to promote competitive practices in market economy, competition law, especially the Competition Act of 2010, was designed to prevent market monopolization. Nonetheless, this law’s enforcement as designed in the pharmaceutical sector is fraught with problems. This research investigates the case of price fixing and other anti-competitive practices in the pharmaceutical industry in Pakistan in order to assess the competition law’s competition policy shortcomings. In addition, the research examines how active Pakistan’s Competition Commission is in dealing with such violations of the competition law and how this affects competition in the market. The paper has the objective of providing a detailed critique of the competition law and policies of Pakistan in the context of the wide gaps that exist in the enforcement of law and policy and suggest ways in which Pakistan’s pharmaceutical industry can be made more competitive and responsive to consumers’ needs.