FAS presented experience of adopting ICN information products

TheFederalAntimonopolyServiceisimprovingitsleniencyprogrammeundertheGuidelinesforcartelenforcementoftheInternationalCompetitionNetwork (ICN). FASwasactivelyinvolvedindraftingtheGuidelines

The final plenary session of the Conference of the International Competition Network (ICN) in Porto (Portugal) focused on adopting ICN information products.

The session was moderated by Director of the Office of International Affairs, US Federal Trade Commission, Randy Tritell. Head of Spain National Authority for Markets and Competition, Jose Maria Marin Quemada; Chairman of the Philippine Competition Commission, Arsenio Balisacan; Deputy Secretary General for International Affairs, Japan Fair Trade Commission, Hiroshi Yamada; as well as a legal practitioner from Brussels (Belgium) Paul O’Brian took part in the discussion. Deputy Head of FAS Department for International Economic Cooperation, Head of the International Information Communications Unit, Anna Pozdnyakova, presented FAS experience of adopting the key ICN products by the Federal Antimonopoly Service.

Anna Pozdnyakova pointed out that FAS pays careful attention to adopting ICN products since they represent a mix of the best international practices in competition policy, law and enforcement. ICN recommendations and the best practices were taken into account developing the “froth antimonopoly package” of amendments to Russian antimonopoly law. FAS was heavily involved in drafting ICN Guidelines on cartel enforcement, and in line with them FAS is improving its leniency programme. Since one of the priorities of the Antimonopoly Service is to improve the quality of market analysis, ICN Recommendations on market research also are useful in FAS everyday work.

Apart from using ICN information products at the national level FAS is promoting an idea of adopting them at the level of regional associations. Drafting the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union that came into effect on 1 January 2015, FAS considered the best ICN practices on mergers, unilateral conduct and cartels. FAS also pays special attention to technical assistance and advancing qualification of young competition authorities. Earlier FAS provided technical assistance to competition authorities of Kirgizia, Armenia and Mongolia; in 2016 several educational events took place at the newly formed Ministry of the Republic of Belarus for Antimonopoly Regulation and Commerce as well as at FAS Centre for Education and Methodics in Kazan, which is officially recognized as the main centre for the CIS. Such efforts are also based on ICN best practices and recommendations.

Finally Anna Pozdnyakova pointed out that competition authorities are facing new challenges, such as cross-border transactions, emerging innovative and high-tech markets. These challenges determine further areas of developing ICN recommendations that are aimed at helping competition authorities to cope with the difficulties of the modern time.