On 20 May, ICTSD, CUTS (India) and Consumers International (CI) hosted a meeting on Competition Law and International Trade. Representatives of the Intellectual Property and Investment Division of the WTO secretariat, as well as of UNCTAD, made presentations and served as resource persons during the meeting. Presentations were also heard from the representatives of CUTS and CI. Participants discussed developments in the field of trade and competition policy at the WTO, in particular the working group which is currently examining the issue. It was emphasised that the working group had no mandate to negotiate in this area. The key points before the working group relate both to private and to public sector policies. Issues include the impact of state monopolies, exclusive rights and regulatory policies on competition and international trade; the relationship between the trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights and competition policy; the relationship between investment and competition policy; and the impact of trade policy on competition.
It was pointed out that the EC and its members have championed the idea of a new agreement on competition policy, while the US position is less clear, partly due to divergent views among different US government agencies. Participants also noted that there was a diversity of viewpoints amongst Asian and African countries, while a number of Latin American countries were committed to the importance of competition policy. For several of these countries, such policy is central to their reform and privatisation process. An UNCTAD study on benefits for developing countries of competition policy was also highlighted.
A representative of CUTS pointed out that while the main goals of competition policy were economic efficiency and consumer welfare, public interest might conflict with either of these goals. He mentioned a case study which showed how much Australian consumers had suffered from privatisation in that country. He also pointed out that competition policy is broader than a country’s competition laws. One factor might be the degree of independence enjoyed by a country’s competition board.
Participants in the workshop recognised the complexity of the issues involved in debates around trade and competition policy but also recognised that competition policy is a key area for the development of a better multilateral trading system. It was suggested that a strong multilateral framework on competition policy could be a more desirable alternative to multilateral agreements on investment that do not place rules and disciplines on predatory behavior of economic agents.