CADE negotiates the adhesion of Brazil to UNCTAD’s COMPAL Programme

The Administrative Council for Economic Defense – CADE is holding negotiations about the adhesion of Brazil as a member of the program Competencia y Protección al Consumidor en América Latina – COMPAL, from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The programme promotes initiatives for the strengthening of institutions and capacities in the areas of competition and consumer protection policies to its 16 members from Latin America. The member countries are Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Equator, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic and Uruguay. In addition, UNCTAD’s COMPAL organizes studies, events, and exchanges between public and private institutions. Initiated in 2003, the program is in its third phase, aiming at fostering the regional cooperation and providing assistance to the private sector for the compliance with the competition and consumer legislation.

CADE and UNCTAD had a meeting in Brazil to discuss the matter. The Brazilian competition authority manifested its interest in becoming a partner in the programme and received a positive feedback from UNCTAD’s representatives.

CADE believes in the benefits of the adhesion to COMPAL, such as the strengthening the cooperation ties with the other competition authorities of the region, as the programme provides an important platform for the exchange of knowledge and experiences between Brazil and others Latin America’s countries in competition matters. Moreover, CADE will contribute to the programme, sharing experiences about competition policy and legislation with other authorities that are consolidating its competition defense system.

CADE and UNCTAD have been already working in partnership. In 2017, CADE attended the program Escuela Indecopi-Compal, in Peru, in which a CADE’s representative acted as an instructor about the investigation and analysis of competition cases. In addition, in 2018, CADE will host the 8th Annual Meeting of the Working Group on Trade and Competition in the Latin America and the Caribbean, an initiative of UNCTAD in partnership with the Secretariat of the Latin American Economic System (SELA).