International Competition Network

The International Competition Network (ICN) was created in October 2001 by 14 competition authorities around the world, with the purpose of promoting a global convergence in the competition matters and providing an independent and specialized forum on this subject. The proposal arose in 2000, in the Report of the International Competition Policy Advisory Committee of the United States - ICPAC, composed of competition experts from various sectors, which operated between 1997 and 2000 in order to evaluate the challenges of antitrust policies in the twenty-first century. The proposal to create the ICN was endorsed by the Directorate General for Competition of the European Commission and by prominent professionals in the public and private competition areas.  

The ICN started its activities as a virtual network composed of competition authorities. Subsequently, it had its structure institutionalized, the period when its fields of activity, admission criteria, and the competencies of the Working Groups and of the Steering Group were defined.

The ICN is composed of national and multinational competitions authorities, non-governmental organizations, international organizations (such as the OECD, WTO and UNCTAD), academic communities and private sectors related to competition. Currently, the ICN has more than a hundred competition authorities.

The ICN is headed by a Steering Group composed by 15 competition authorities based in geographical criteria, with a two-year term. It has as purposes: to assign and to recommend the composition of the Working Groups that develop projects approved in the Annual Conferences; to review and to approve the working plan for each project developed by the Working Groups; to prepare and to distribute agendas and documents at the Conferences and Meetings and to approve the agenda and the participation of non-members in the Annual Conference. As ICN does not have a permanent secretariat, the costs of organization and of the secretariat are annually financed by the country that receives the Annual Conference.

Working Groups

The operationalization of ICN’s activities occurs through the constitution of the Working Groups, based on a specific project to be developed. The Working Groups are composed of competitions authorities of the country members and invited experts appointed by the Chair of the Group. The results of the discussions are converted into reports that identify the different positions of the members. Each Working Group can be divided in two or more subgroups, according to the specialization of the main theme of the Working Group.

Currently, the ICN has the following Working Groups:

• Advocacy (AWG)
• Agency Effectiveness  (AEWG)
• Cartels
• Mergers
• Unilateral Conduct

Annual Conferences

The Annual Conferences represent the main core of ICN’s activities, where the results of the Working Groups are presented and the competition authorities analyze and make recommendations on the new projects and the progress of the current projects. The recommendations are established by consensus of the members and they work only as guidelines for each member – non-binding effect. Therefore, the competition authorities have freedom of choice in respect of the deadlines and the implementation of the guidelines.

At the end of each Conference, there is a meeting of the Steering Group members to discuss the progress of the Working Groups and the progress of current and new projects.

Background of the host cities of the ICN Annual Conferences:

•    2002 - Naples, Italy 
•    2003 - Merida, Mexico 
•    2004 - Seoul, Korea 
•    2005 - Bonn, Germany 
•    2006 - Cape Town, South Africa 
•    2007 - Moscow, Russia 
•    2008 - Kyoto, Japan 
•    2009 - Zurich, Switzerland 
•    2010 - Istanbul, Turkey 
•    2011 - The Hague, The Netherlands 
•    2012 - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 
•    2013 - Warsaw, Poland 
•    2014 - Marrakech, Morocco
•    2015 - Sydney, Australia
•    2016 - Singapore, Singapore
•    2017 - Porto, Portugal

In 2012, Brazil had the opportunity to host the event, which occurred in Rio de Janeiro, from 17 to 20 April. The event was attended by representatives from 82 jurisdictions, totaling approximately 500 participants, being 400 International ones. The Conference was jointly organized by CADE, the Secretariat for Economic Law (SDE) and the Secretariat for Economic Monitoring (SEAE).

ICN website: http://www.internationalcompetitionnetwork.org