15th session of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Competition Law and Policy UN Conference on Trade and Development (IGE UNCTAD)

In the period from 18 till 23 October, 2016 in Geneva (Switzerland) the 15^th session of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Competition Law and Policy (IGE) UNCTAD took place.

15^th session of IGE UNCTAD opened on October 19, 2016. Head of FAS Igor Artemiev gave a welcoming video address to the event participants at the opening ceremony. He emphasized the need for developing global cooperation between competition authorities to counteract anticompetitive practices of transnational corporations and combating international cartels. UNCTAD is the best platform for developing such cooperation.

On the Opening Ceremony Andrey Tsyganov, Deputy Head of FAS Russia, delivered a speech. He emphasized that 70 years ago the United Nations Organization started working on all aspects of competition development. It is already 25 years that the Russian Federation joined the process and it is one of the most important areas of international activity for FAS Russia.

The agenda included discussing interactions between competition policy and consumer protection policy, competitive enforcement in retail trade, cooperation between competition authorities and judiciary, strengthening the private sector potential for observing competition norms.

On October 20, 2016, the 15^th session of IGE UNCTAD included a special event on cooperation in investigations of cross-border cases on the market of information technologies and ocean liner container shipping, co-organized by FAS Russia.

The purpose of the event was to establish a constructive dialogue between competition authorities of the entire world and discuss issues facing competition authorities in the context of modern economic challenges. Today national economies experience new trends, such as fast-growing IT market and anticompetitive behavior of transnational corporations. It also influences the work of competition authorities: many antimonopoly bodies investigate the same companies on the same markets. It can form the basis for developing constructive cooperation between competition bodies in order to jointly solve pressing issues.

On 21 October 2016, the 15^th session of IGE UNCTAD the Russian delegation put forward a proposal to include a special issue on developing international legal tools for international cooperation in investigating cross-border cases in the agenda of the 16^th session of the UNCTAD intergovernmental group of experts on competition law and policy in July 2017.

The idea was supported by delegations of Egypt, Brazil, South Africa, Iran, Costa-Rica, Indonesia, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), the Philippines, Vanuatu, Lebanon and Pakistan. Thus, "Strengthening international cooperation in investigating cross-border cases: tools and procedures" was included in the agenda of the 16^th session of IGE UNCTAD.