FAS and the Norwegian Competition Authority are getting ready to sign a Memorandum of Cooperation in the field of competition policy
Signing the document will enable the bodies to reinforce cooperation in joint case investigation
Under the frame of the recent Conference of the International Competition Network (ICN), the delegation of the Federal Antimonopoly Service led by Deputy Head of FAS Andrey Tsyganov held talks with Director General for Competition at the Norwegian Competition Authority, Lars Sørgard.
The parties discussed further work on approving the Memorandum of Cooperation in the field of competition policy between FAS and the Norwegian Competition Authority. Andrey Tsyganov said that the issue had been included in the agenda of the Russian-Norwegian Intergovernmental Commission, where both sides had pointed out that signing the Memorandum would create favourable frame conditions for exchanging experiences and result-oriented interaction in investigating particular cases, which ultimately would encourage improvement of the competitive environment in both countries, increase the level of well-being of the population and expand Russian-Norwegian commercial-and-economic relations.
The parties also discussed possibility to sign the Memorandum at the annual international event – “Competition Week in Russia” on 18 - 21 September 2017 in Veliky Novgorod. Lars Sørgard expressed the interest in participating in the event and pointed out that it would be an excellent platform to sign the first bilateral agreement between the competition authorities of Russia and Norway.
The parties also considered further areas of cooperation in the field of competition policy, including joint evens and workshops, expert exchange, consultations and information exchange on cases related to violations of the antimonopoly law.
Finally, Andrey Tsyganov presented FAS initiatives on drafting the Code of bona fide pricing practices on the market of ocean container shipment and the International Toolkit on international cooperation between competition authorities to counter restrictive business practices of large transnational corporations, which will formalize effective tools and methods of cooperation. The Toolkit will be discussed at the 16th session of the UNCTAD Intergovernmental Group of Experts on competition policy (5-7 July, Geneva, Switzerland).
“The competition authorities of Russia and Norway are an example of efficient cooperation on investigating violations of the antimonopoly law. In 2013 the parties jointly investigated a case on supplying Norwegian fish to the Russian Federation. Notably, the investigation took place in the absence of normative consolidation of cooperation between the bodies and was built up exclusively on a voluntary, mutually beneficial basis. No doubt, after signing the Memorandum cooperation between FAS and the Norwegian Competition Authority will be even more intensive and productive”, summed up the meeting results Andrey Tsyganov.