The 15 session of UNCTAD Inter-Government Group of Competition Experts opened in Geneva
The 15th session of Inter-Government Expert Group on Competition Law and Policy of UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) opened on 19 October 2016 in Geneva (Switzerland).
The session participants represent competition authorities from across the globe, the leading universities, non-government and international organizations specializing in competition; overall more than 500 attendees. A FAS delegation at the event is led by Deputy Head of FAS, Andrey Tsyganov.
At the beginning of the opening ceremony, in accord with UNCTAD Protocol, there were elections of the Conference Chairman and Deputy Chairman. The Conference Chairman became Esteban Greco, the Head of Argentina Competition Authority; Deputy Chairman – Kazuyuki Sugimototo, the Head of Japan Fair Trade Commission.
The key speaker at the opening ceremony was Joakim Reiter, Deputy UNCTAD General Secretary. He pointed out that this year marks the 70th anniversary since the UN started working on competition issues. An important step in developing such efforts was adopting the Set of Multilaterally Agreed Equitable Principles and Rules for the Control of Restrictive Business Practices in 1980. Today the world is facing new challenges and market developments. It is competition that is designed to play the leading role in the new economy, smoothing possible adverse consequences of globalisation and fast-changing markets. Competition is an integral element of achieving the sustainable development objectives. Competition in the modern world, where nearly 4 billion people are cut off from digital technologies, is the key factor for reducing digital inequality.
The 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.
The 15th session of UNCTAD Inter-Government Expert Group on Competition Law and Policy lasts till 21 October 2016. The agenda includes 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.
“UNCTAD is an especially important platform for FAS because here competition authorities cooperate in the global format. Various opinions for solving the most pressing issues of concern for the entire global competition community are put forward and discussed, and FAS also uses this opportunity to propose its ideas and the vision of competition development”, commented the Head of FAS Department for International Economic Cooperation, Lesya Davydova.