The OECD Global Forum on Competition brings together every year competition officials from over 110 authorities and organisations worldwide.
In 2014, the Forum opened with a session on "Fighting corruption and promoting competition" with a keynote speech by Obiageli Ezekwesili, Co-founder of Transparency International. Other topics on the agenda included: competition issues in the distribution of pharmaceuticals and a peer review Romania's competition law and policy.
After a first discussion in 2011 on Collusion and Corruption in Public Procurement, the 2014 Forum explored how anti-competitive behaviour and corruption interact through the corruption of business licensing processes or other types of regulation to restrict entry. More general links between corruption and anti-competitive behaviour were addressed such as public and judicial attitudes to these two abuses, as well as the links between institutions engaged in fighting them.
Participants shared relevant cases from their own jurisdictions and also any formal or informal agreements with anti-corruption institutions.
“Peer review” is a core element of OECD work. The mechanisms of peer review vary, but it is founded upon the willingness of a country to submit its laws and policies to substantive questioning by other peers. The process provides valuable insights into the country under study, getting to the heart of ways in which each country deals with competition and regulatory issues, from the soundness of its competition laws to the structure and effectiveness of its competition institutions. In 2014 Romania’s competition law and policy was subject to such a review.
This full-day session provided an overview of how competition works in this market, to identify the main problems that can arise at different levels of the distribution chain and to better understand the interplay between competition and regulation.
Three break-out sessions allowed participants to further exchange on the topic.
