Meeting marks 30th anniversary of UN standards on competition policy
Geneva, 8 November 2010 -- High government officials and the heads of several national competition authorities urged this morning that continued attention be paid to the principles of fair economic competition as countries strive to recover from the global recession.
Speakers said the nurturing of competitive business environments should help with recovery by making the production and distribution of goods more efficient and by preventing rises in prices that can choke off economic growth.
The formal topic of the morning´s debate was "the interface between public policies and competition policy." It marked the beginning of a week-long conference focused on the 30-year-old United Nations Set of Multilaterally Agreed Equitable Principles and Rules for the Control of Restrictive Business Practices. The rules are often referred to as the UN Set on Competition Policy. Under the terms of the Set, UNCTAD holds an annual meeting of intergovernmental experts on competition law and hosts a review conference every five years. This week´s conference is the 6th such review, and is dedicated to considering how the Set on Competition Policy applies in a much-modernized world.
UNCTAD Secretary-General Supachai Panitchpakdi, in a video presentation, opened the debate by saying that in 1980 only 50 countries had competition laws; 110 do today. The importance of rules of fair economic competition, nationally and internationally, is not questioned "even in this current period of economic uncertainty," he said.
The speakers who followed said government policies, whatever a country´s economic situation, should be aimed at enhancing rather than limiting business competition.
William E. Kovacic, Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission of the United States, told the meeting that competition is vital for growth in developing countries "in troubled times." Lack of competition law leads to "underperforming economies;" for example, cartels in public purchasing limit the effectiveness of government steps to fight poverty. Cartels also limit the entry of new entrepreneurs, especially with those with limited means, into markets, he said, and potential entrepreneurs among the poor "have good ideas about how to lift themselves out of poverty."
Ho-yul Chung, Chairman of the Fair Trade Commission of the Republic of Korea, said that when competition regulations were enacted in his country in 1980, per capita income began to grow; the rules became "a strong force for rapid economic growth" and might serve as an example for developing countries. But it is vital for countries taking such steps to dedicate sufficient resources to enacting and enforcing competition standards, and to explaining to the public why such standards are vital, he said.
Bruno Lasserre, President of the Competition Authority of France, noted the "robustness of the instrument" that has guided competition policy for the past 30 years. International standards should be strong enough to cope with turbulent times, he said, and the Set on Competition "has weathered the storm. . . We should continue our efforts to fight cartels. They only worsen the situation."
Quan Chong, China´s Deputy International Trade Representative, said the global economic crisis had a major impact on China, leading the government to respond actively. Emphasis has been placed on spurring the private sector into recovery, he said, and steps have been taken to prevent any restrictive practices affecting either domestic business activity or trade. The government has consistently worked to combat monopolies and cartels, he said.
Dhanendra Kumar, Chairman of the Competition Commission of India, said the conference is timely because the effects of the global crisis are still being felt and "competition is a cornerstone" that must be used to support recovery. He urged governments to strive to make the benefits of competition available to "the poorest of the poor," including in such sectors as agriculture, where "there is often a major difference between the money earned by the farmer and the prices paid by the consumer."
And Dasho Sonam Tshering, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Economic Affairs of Bhutan, told the meeting Bhutan has enacted many reforms over the past decade, including the establishment of Parliamentary democracy in 2008, and is on schedule to become a middle-income country by 2020. Numerous reforms have been undertaken to spur economic development, including elements of competition policy and consumer protection that have been incorporated into national laws, he said.
Also addressing the session were high-level officials from Armenia, Brazil, Cameroon, Kenya, Morocco, the Russian Federation, Paraguay, Peru, Zimbabwe, and the European Union.
The conference will continue through Friday. Tuesday afternoon, it will carry out on a voluntary peer review of the competition laws and policies of Armenia.
