Statement on future WTO work on competition and trade

After issuing policy statements in 1996, it published a draft report in February 1998 – prepared by its Joint Working Party on Competition and International Trade - which reflected international business perspectives on various issues relating to the interface between trade and competition policies.
The ICC’s Joint Working Party on Competition and Inter-national Trade has also submitted written responses to certain questions informally asked by members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Working Group on the Interaction between Trade and Competition Policy.

The WTO’s Working Group on the Interaction between Trade and Competition Policy (the WTO Working Group) is in the process of finalizing its report on the subjects which it has considered within the mandate established at the December 1996 Singapore Ministerial Conference of the WTO.
One of the issues to be considered is whether, and to what extent, its mandate should be extended.
ICC believes that the current mandate of the WTO Working Group should be prolonged for a period of time, to allow its members to continue their educational discussions on issues relating to market access and other aspects of the interface between trade and competition policies.
As governmental barriers to international trade have been reduced, there have been growing concerns about the impact of private and state anti-competitive actions on the free flow of goods and services.
The WTO working group study of this issue has been a constructive effort toward understanding this relationship.