23rd ICN Annual Conference ends

The meeting with authorities from Portuguese speaking countries is an opportunity to exchange experiences and knowledge. The president of the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE), Alexandre Cordeiro, started his speech with this opening statement during the breakout session in Portuguese on the last day of the ICN Annual Conference on 17 May, Friday.  

Authorities from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and also representatives of Mozambique, Portugal, and Cabo Verde were present in the event. 

One of the main topics addressed in the meeting was the regulation of digital markets. According to Antônio Gomes, Deputy Director of the OECD, the regulation of digital markets is going to be a trend. “The countries will introduce regulations for the digital economy,” he stated.  

Mr Gomes also said that artificial intelligence is another field that has raised the interest of antitrust authorities. “AI can bring many benefits and positive productivity gains, but we have to be aware of the risks, such as discriminatory leverage of digital companies in the AI market, which can create high market concentration,” he explained. 

The topic was also discussed in the session “Algorithmic collusion and other digital challenges in cartel enforcement” promoted by the Cartel Working Group of the ICN. The Assistent Superintendent of CADE, Fernanda Machado, Lucília Falsarella (United Kingdom), Tsuyoshi Ikeda (Japan), Adrien Giraud (France), and Ricardo Oliveira (Portugal) took part in the debate. 

Ms Machado presented the case analysed by CADE on airplane tickets involving algorithms. The proceeding was launched based on several complaints about the abusive price increase of airplane tickets in several Brazilian states. During the investigation, CADE analysed the usage of algorithms for pricing and how the companies use machine learning to define prices, to determine if they could indicate an anticompetitive practice or if they could lead to collusion.  

According to her, these tools can facilitate the exchange of sensitive information among competitors. “Consider a service provided by a third party, in which the algorithm suggests prices, analysing especially the dinamic and private data updated by different competitiors, with the main objective of maximising the outcomes of a company. Would this represent a competitive risk if competitors exchanged information in a traditional way? Therefore, it is fair to say that the companies should avoid this practice when using this type of algorithm”, she stated. 

The last panel of the event presented experiences and challenges of monitoring and evaluating practices of antitrust agencies. Representatives of Brazil, the Netherlands, Hungary, Singapore, Greece, Uruguay, and Dominican Republic took part in the session. Among the current alternatives, the panelists reported successful initiatives led by the OECD to measure efficacy of individual interventions.  

Finally, the president of CADE, Alexandre Cordeiro, the president of the ICN Steering Group Chair, Andreas Mundt, and the General Counsel of the UK Competition and Markets Authority, Chris Prevett gave speeches in the closing session of the conference. Mr Mundt thanked CADE for the organisation of the event and highlighted the welcoming experience for the ICN  in Brazil. In addition, Mr Cordeiro highlighted the importance of the debates and mentioned a few of the topics addressed during the conference, such as digital markets, regulation, and other important topics to promote a fair competitive environment. The president of CADE also thanked his team that worked in the organisation of the event.  

Since 14 May, about 400 people from more than 80 countries attended the conference, joining more than 40 hours of activities. 

To see the conference panels again, access CADE’s YouTube channel.