40th Meeting of the Headquarters for Joint Investigations of Violations of the Antimonopoly Legislation of the CIS Member States took place in St. Petersburg.
The event was attended by representatives of the antimonopoly authorities of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Russia, as well as representatives of the Eurasian Economic Commission, the CIS Executive Committee, the Eurasian Alliance of Antimonopoly Experts.
The meeting was opened by Maxim Shaskolsky, Head of FAS Russia.
Within the framework of the event, the issues of the current activities of the Headquarters and implementation of decisions taken during the 39th Meeting in Minsk were discussed.
Andrey Tsyganov, Deputy Head of FAS Russia, spoke about the regulation of digital markets and noted that the development of this industry is possible with self-regulation without strict government intervention. To this end, FAS Russia has prepared and sent to the antimonopoly authorities of the CIS member states a draft Model Principles and Standards for the activities of digital market participants in the CIS member states. This document, on the one hand, will contribute to the formation of open, transparent, non-discriminatory conditions for doing business, and on the other hand, ensure the implementation of constitutional rights of citizens. In particular, the freedom to receive and disseminate information and privacy. The principles are aimed at the development of self-regulation of the industry and conscientious behavior of market participants.
FAS Russia also finalized a draft review on stock trading in the CIS member states. The document contains an analysis of the state of the exchange trading market in the member countries of the association, the prospects for its development and the measures taken for this.
Besides, the issue of report preparation by the authority on the institute of unfair competition in the legislation and law enforcement practice of the participating countries was discussed.
Tatiana Nikitina, Head of the Department for Control over Advertising and Unfair Competition of FAS Russia, said that in the course of this work, a comparative assessment of the legislation and practice of the CIS countries in the field of combating unfair competition was carried out. She noted that the report and the practical examples contained therein confirm the assessment of unfair competition as a threat in the economic sphere. The norms of legislation aimed at prohibiting such competition allow to protect market participants from unfair actions of competitors.
Besides, FAS Russia has carried out work on the development of a report on application of antimonopoly legislation to intellectual property objects with the participation of CIS member states. Mariana Matyashevskaya, Head of the Legal Department of FAS Russia, stressed that today the issues of intellectual rights and the specifics of their protection are of particular importance, including due to the fact that in modern conditions the disposal of exclusive intellectual property rights ensures the leadership of global players in the markets, often leading to the formation of digital monopolies, among others. The results of intellectual activity, on the one hand, form new markets and ensure the innovative development of countries, and on the other hand, strengthen the influence of copyright holders on the general conditions of circulation of goods, which in the future may lead to violations of the rights of consumers and other market participants. Such surveys allow to better study the experience of the member countries of the association and develop common approaches to ensure effective mechanisms within the framework of antimonopoly control in order to prevent unfair behavior of copyright holders carried out outside the implementation of intellectual property rights.
In addition, the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade of the Republic of Belarus presented a report on the development of commodity markets for medicines in the CIS member States. It includes an analysis of specific markets, proposals for their development and an assessment of the main problems. Moreover, the document contains an overview of the dietary supplements market and pharmaceutical markets of the member countries of the association. This study will strengthen antimonopoly control and control over advertising in these markets.
The participants also discussed the nuances of preparing a report on the activities of the antimonopoly authorities of the CIS member states in certain markets of socially significant goods in modern conditions. The document being developed by FAS Russia is intended to summarize and analyze similar experience of the antimonopoly authorities of the member countries of the association.
In the final part of the meeting, the Head of the Headquarters, Stats Secretary - Deputy Head of FAS Russia, Sergey Puzyrevsky noted that the areas in which work is being carried out are the most relevant in the field of competition policy, and are of interest to all antimonopoly authorities of the CIS member states. The Head of the Headquarters also invited the antimonopoly authorities of the participating countries to submit proposals to FAS Russia on additional topics of the work of the Headquarters for the near future.
Source: FAS
