INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION OF AGENCIES WILL PROVIDE GLOBAL RESPONSE TO THE PANDEMIC

Andrey Tsyganov participated on June 3, 2020 in a webinar of the Secretariat of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on the topic "State of competition during the COVID-19 pandemic: the need for international cooperation"

The webinar was opened by Teresa Moreira, Head of the Competition and Consumer Policy Division of the Secretariat UNCTAD, who highlighted the importance of international cooperation during the crisis and spoke about the current activities of UNCTAD in general and on the upcoming competition events in 2020.

At the videoconference, Andrey Tsyganov shared the experience of the FAS Russia in competition advocacy, antimonopoly response measures taken, and successful interaction with state authorities and foreign competition agencies.

"It is essential to emphasize the great importance of developing competition advocacy. We constantly interact with federal executive authorities and the business community, explaining the need to constantly maintain competitive environment of the economy, even in highly competitive markets where it is impossible to single out one major player," said the Deputy Head of the FAS Russia.

Other participants of the discussion also expressed their ideas about the importance of constant interaction with other public authorities, entrepreneurs and consumers, and activities to prevent violations of the law for competition agencies. Many speakers highlighted the timeliness of the adoption of Guiding Policies and Procedures under Section F of the UN Set on Competition, which establish mechanisms for practical cooperation between competition agencies.

"International cooperation is one of the most important priorities of the FAS Russia. The position of the Russian competition authority is clear: the consolidation of our efforts can greatly contribute to the formation of a global response to the pandemic and the recovery of the economy," said Andrey Tsyganov, referring to the statement of the Head of the FAS Russia Igor Artemiev.

At the webinar, the UNCTAD Secretariat announced that the 8th UN Review Conference of the Set on Competition will be held in October 2020. In addition to participating in the session on international cooperation, the FAS Russia will also act as the organizer and moderator of the session on combating cartels.

Representatives of competition agencies from Austria, Albania, Brazil, Indonesia, the USA, South Africa and Japan also took part in the webinar. More than 400 people watched the live broadcast of the event, and participants received more than 70 questions from the audience.

Background:

On July 12, 2019, in Geneva (Switzerland), within the framework of the 18th session of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts (IGE) on Competition Law and Policy of UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the competition authorities of UNCTAD member states approved the text of the Guiding Policies and Procedures under Section F of the UN Set on Competition.

The approved document was included in the agenda and should be officially adopted within the framework of the 8th UN Review Conference of the Set on Competition in 2020.