President of CADE elected member of OECD Competition Committee

On 30 November, the President of CADE, Alexandre Cordeiro Macedo, was elected a member of the Competition Committee Bureau of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)—the first Brazilian to ever occupy the position. The election happened during a meeting of the Competition Committee held in Paris, France.

The Bureau—the steering group of the OECD Competition Committee—is elected from representatives to the committee’s antitrust authorities. The group proposes working guidelines and discussion topics and offers the OECD secretariat detailed guidance on the committee’s work plan, especially for management and planning purposes.

As a new member of the Bureau, President Cordeiro is expected to have a greater influence on the committee’s decisions and a more active role in proposing antitrust public policies with a global scope.

According to Mr Cordeiro, “winning the election was a result of CADE’s increased participation in the committee and continuous work to align Brazilian public policies with international best practices in a systematic, harmonious, and coherent way towards the OECD’s excellence standards.”

CADE in the OECD

Brazil has been cooperating with the OECD since the mid-1990s and, through CADE, has been an active member of the organisation's Competition Committee as of 1997.

Throughout this period, the agency has regularly supported the committee. The collaboration includes submitting written contributions to discussions, participating in the biannual meetings, responding to thematic questionnaires, and cooperating with the committee’s projects.

The first peer review of Brazil, on competition matters, took place in 2005; the second, in 2010. The two publications recognised Brazil’s developments in competition policy and were fundamental in reforming the Brazilian Competition Defense System in 2011.

That year saw the creation of a single, autonomous competition institution—CADE—and the introduction of the premerger notification regime: relevant improvements absolutely in line with international best practices.<

In 2019, a third peer review attested to the successful implementation of a modern and innovative competition regime. In the words of the OECD, CADE "has consolidated its position among the main antitrust jurisdictions around the world”.

That same year, Brazil became an associate member of the Competition Committee, which made for better communication with the organisation and allowed us to participate much more effectively in technical debates with the most relevant global antitrust agencies.

In 2022, the committee started a process of negotiation on Brazil’s accession to the OECD as a member country.

Learn more about the accession process here.