COMPETITION PROVISIONS IN REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS: HOW TO ASSURE DEVELOPMENT GAINS

During the last decade, Regional Trade Agreement (RTA) containing competition policy provisions have proliferated. These are part of a trend for ´deeper´ RTAs which often include articles for liberalizing trade in services, investment, labour and other trade-related provisions.

Interestingly, developing countries negotiate about as many RTAs among themselves as with developed countries and about 65% of the South-South RTAs completed since 1995 contain provisions related to competition policy.

This publication explores cross-cutting issues applicable to all RTAs as well as the experiences specific of developing countries. The main issues addressed in this publication include:

• Proliferation of bilateral and regional trade agreements containing provisions on Competition Law and Policies. Lessons for negotiation and enforcement;
  
  
• Operationalising special and differential treatment in cooperation agreements on competition law and policy;
  
  
• Implementation costs and burden of international competition law and policy agreements;
  
  
• Consumer protection, competition and RTAs: some lessons for developing countries; and
  
  
• Establishing competition enforcement networks at regional level (e.g. The European Competition Network - ECN: a model for developing countries?).