Statement of the Council of the Heads of the CIS Governments to intensify efforts against international cartels

The document is ratified by the Council of the Heads of the Governments of the CIS member states.

The Statement firmly condemns international cartels in all forms and manifestations, confirms that need to form a global international mechanism to counter cartels, in particular, by drafting and adopting a relevant international document, which can be the Anti-Cartel Convention.

Deputy Head of FAS Andrey Tsyganov made a report on the project progress to the Council. He highlighted the growing influence of transnational corporations upon the state of competitive markets, including the CIS member states.

In  view of Andrey Tsyganov, in some spheres (the pharmaceutical market, IT,  food products) the impact of global players is now quite significant, enabling then to not only apply unfair, anticompetitive practices but also threaten directly the national state security.

Deputy Head of FAS gave examples of anti-cartel cases investigated by FAS independently or in cooperation with CIS antimonopoly bodies.

Andrey Tsyganov emphasized the importance of consent and readiness of many states to stand together on all possible sites to counter unfair business practices of international cartels.

He specially emphasized the importance of an initiative of Russia, the CIS member-states and some developing countries to put forward to the UN agenda, (at UNCTAD) an issue on enhancing efficiency of international cooperation in this field, which would be a necessary stop aimed at promoting the initiative o adopting Anti-Cartel Convention at the international level.

The draft Convention was supported by the CIS member-states and promoting this initiative at international sites will enhance the reputation of the regional CIS association as an association actively involved in shaping the global agenda.

“To counter cartels globally, it is essential to create an efficient legal framework, that can unify legal terms, determine general legal mechanisms for cartel punishment, formalize efficient forms of cooperation between the antimonopoly bodies in cartel investigations, including joint inspections and information exchange”, concluded Andrey Tsyganov.