Comments on Information Exchanges in International Cartel Investigations

ICC wishes to contribute to the discussions within OECD Working Party Three on exchange of information between antitrust enforcement agencies in the context of international cartel investigations. We understand that the OECD's aim is to work out a number of core principles to be incorporated in treaties or inter-governmental agreements governing the exchange of such information.

ICC agrees on the need for an effective enforcement of antitrust rules against illegal international cartels. ICC also agrees on the means to achieve such enforcement i.a. the exchange of information between antitrust authorities allowing them to detect, investigate and prosecute such cartels.
However, ICC is of the view that the exchange of information must be subjected to adequate safeguards to protect the legitimate interests of the enterprises involved.

ICC notes that there are a number of bi-lateral agreements/treaties on competition rules and bi-lateral agreements/treaties on mutual assistance which also cover antitrust matters. Caution should be exercised when attempting to use clauses of these agreements, relating to information exchange on cartels covering the relevant jurisdictions and the underlying principles, as precedents in elaborating principles for information exchange between other countries. These agreements are entered into between countries that share basic concepts embodied in their antitrust rules. As long as there are no - plurilateral or multilateral - international substantive competition rules, the scope for plurilateral agreements/treaties on information exchange or for that matter for core principles that could be included in many bilateral agreements is rather limited.