A round table on combating cross-border cartels was held within the framework of the 8th UN Conference on Competition and Consumer Protection. The initiative to have a round table was proposed by the FAS Russia and supported by the UNCTAD Secretariat and UN member states during the 18th session of the UNCTAD Interstate Group of Experts (IGE) on Competition Law and Policy, held in July 2019 in Geneva.
Andrey Tsyganov was the moderator of the round table on combating
cross-border cartels. During his speech, the deputy head of the FAS
noted that the cartel formation is a serious violation of the
competition law. However, due to their secretive nature, they are
challenging to detect and suppress.
The round table was opened by the head of the International Economic
Cooperation Department Lesya Davydova: - "In current conditions of
globalization and digitalization, an even more dangerous feature of
cartels appears: they often lose their local character and become
international. In this regard, international cooperation is urgently
needed, aimed at effective and efficient struggle".
Alexey Ivanov, Director of the BRICS Competition Centre, made a key
presentation, showcasing the results of an empirical study of
cross-border cartel issues prepared by the BRICS Center for this
Conference. The report is based on an analysis of the results of a
survey of competition authorities in 37 countries. The participants
filled out the questionnaires proposed by the research group,
highlighting the critical problems of combating cross-border cartels and
the challenges facing the international antitrust community in this
area. Thus, for example, only 12 out of 37 surveyed competition
authorities have practical experience in investigating cross-border
cartels. At the same time, almost everyone is aware of the importance of
this instrument of international cooperation.
During his speech, Alexey presented possible solutions to the
identified problems that foreign antimonopoly regulators are currently
facing when investigating cross-border cartels: -"The results of our
research show a sharp increase in demand for closer international
cooperation between antitrust authorities in the fight against
cross-border cartels. Departments are experiencing a great lack of
effective tools to combat this phenomenon. The overwhelming majority of
cross-border cartels today drop out of antimonopoly control precisely
because of the underdeveloped mechanisms of international cooperation".
As a follow-up to the discussion, representatives of the competition
authorities from all over the world shared their practices. Thus, the
General Superintendent of the Administrative Council for Economic
Security of Brazil Alexandre Cordeiro spoke about the main obstacles to
effective international cooperation in cases of cross-border cartels.
Su-Hyun Yoon, Commissioner of the Fair Trade Commission of South Korea,
shared his experience in combating cross-border cartels, problems and
ways to solve them. Deputy Head of the South African Competition
Commission, Hardin Ratshisusu, expressed his opinion on what effective
means of cooperation are needed to investigate cross-border cartels, and
Richard Powers, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Criminal Affairs
of the US Department of Justice, spoke about the recent work of the
International Competition Network (ICN) to combat cartels.
In addition to previously mentioned speakers, the discussion was also
attended by Chairman of the Competition Commission of India Ashok Kumar
Gupta, heads of competition authorities of Thailand and Greece Sakon
Varanyuvatana and Ioannis Lianos; Ivan Vezhnovets, First Deputy Minister
of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade of the Republic of Belarus, as
well as representatives of the antimonopoly regulators of China and
Egypt Kai Yunfeng and Fatma Adel.
Summing up the discussion, Andrey Tsyganov noted that the fight
against cartels is a matter not only of developed countries but also of
developing countries, where antimonopoly bodies have just appeared or
where they are relatively small: "We all agree that investigating
cross-border cartels is a truly global issue that is now in the focus of
international organizations. We thank the UNCTAD Secretariat for the
opportunity to discuss this important topic during the 8th Conference on
the Review of the UN Competition Complex. UNCTAD's efforts can make a
great contribution to what has already been done on this and other
platforms".
Andrey Tsyganov emphasized the importance of the issue: -
"Twenty-seven participants in the BRICS study noted the need to find new
approaches to improve their competence in detecting and investigating
cross-border cartels, and 30 competition authorities said that cartels
pose one of the most dangerous threats to national economies.
Twenty-three antitrust regulators, mostly from developing countries,
noted that having uniform international guidelines containing tools and
methods for combating cross-border cartels would help them in developing
law enforcement practices against cross-border cartels. In this regard,
the fact of including in the Conference Resolution the issue of
combating cross-border cartels as a priority topic for UNCTAD for the
next five years has acquired particular relevance. Twenty-six countries
supported this proposal of FAS Russia and thanks to our joint efforts it
was included in the text of the Conference Resolution".
In order to continue the work in the field of combating cross-border
cartels, Andrey Tsyganov proposed to create an appropriate working group
based on the UNCTAD platform, which would allow accumulating best
practices and simplifying information exchange and consultation.
Alexey Ivanov commented, stating that: - "The creation of updated
cooperation mechanisms is an urgent need, realized by the departments we
interviewed and recorded in the priorities of UNCTAD's work for the
next five years. The BRICS Competition Center will be happy to provide
scientific and expert assistance to the Working Group on Cross-Border
Cartels. I hope that as a result of this work, at the 9th UN Competition
Conference in 2025, we will be able to observe the functioning of a
full-fledged platform for international cooperation of competition
authorities, including the exchange of confidential information and
coordination of law enforcement decisions, based on UNCTAD".
Andrey Tsyganov concluded, by stating that: - "UNCTAD is a suitable
platform for developing updated mechanisms for combating cross-border
cartels that meet the interests of most countries in the world,
regardless of the level of their economic and socio-cultural
development. We invite everyone to join this work and designate the
issue of combating cross-border cartels as a priority topic for UNCTAD's
work for the next five years, which will be fixed in the Resolution of
the Conference".
