2008/SOM3/CPDG/012

Agenda Item: 11

APEC RTAs/FTAs Model Measures on Competition Policy

Purpose: Information

Submitted by: New Zealand

/ Competition Policy Deregulation Group MeetingLima, Peru
13–14 August 2008

APEC Model Measures for RTAs/FTAs: Competition Policy

Objectives

Sets out the objectives of the chapter, for example:

-Recognize the importance of creating and maintaining open competitive markets to promote economic efficiency and consumer welfare;

-Affirm the desire to promote competition in a manner that protects the competitive process rather than competitors; and

-Seek to ensure that the benefits of trade liberalization are not undermined by anticompetitive practices and recognizes the importance of cooperation and coordination on competition policy matters.

Competition Policy and Law and Anticompetitive Business Conduct

Sets out commitments on competition policy and law anti-competitive business conduct. Such commitments might include:

-Promotion of competition by addressing anti-competitive business conduct subject to the Party`s jurisdiction, and by enacting laws and establishing institutions for the adoption, maintenance and enforcement of measures, as deemed appropriate for the Party;

-To the extent that such measures are in place, * they should seek to promote the objectives of the APEC Principles to Enhance Competition and Regulatory Reform;

-A Party may also provide for certain procedural rights.

Cooperation

a)Provides for cooperation in the implementation of competition law and policy.

This section:

-Would recognize the importance of cooperation to promote competition, economic efficiency and consumer welfare;

-Might include cooperation arrangements on issues of competition law enforcement and policy, providing, for example, for the exchange of public information, notification and consultation, as appropriate.

b)Sets out cooperation activities for capacity building related to the implementation of competition policy and law, such as:

-Exchange of experience regarding the promotion and enforcement of competition law and policy.

-Exchange of officials for training purposes; and

-Participation and exchange of official and other experts as lecturers/ consultants/participants at training courses on competition law and policy.

Consultation

Sets out the arrangements for consultation in implementing the Competition Chapter.

This section:

-Provides for consultation to foster understanding between the Parties or to address specific matters that arise under this chapter. Such consultations may occur especially when such matters affect the interests of the other party;

-States that when a request for consultations is made, a response will be provided within a reasonable time frame and that the Party receiving the request will accord full and sympathetic consideration to the concerns identified in the request, in compliance with domestic legal requirements.

Dispute settlement

Sets out which provisions in the chapter will be subject to dispute settlement.

Possible approaches include:

Either

-No provisions are subject to the Agreement’s dispute settlement mechanism;

Or

-A limited set of provisions, including any provisions regarding competition policy, the adoption, maintenance and enforcement of a domestic competition law, and cooperation and consultation between/among the Parties, are not subject to the Agreement’s dispute settlements mechanism.

Parties may choose to include specific commitments that prevent designated monopolies and state enterprises from discriminatory conduct. Such provisions are not related to the adoption, maintenance or enforcement of competition law and may be subject to the agreement’s dispute settlements mechanism, as appropriate.

 *[APEC members are at various stages of developing formal competition policies. Some members have adopted competition laws and enforcement mechanisms and use these as the basis for their FTA commitments. In other cases a competition contain some general principles which can be incorporated in RTAs/FTAs, recognizing that specific agreements will reflect the actual situation in the respective parties.]