If you’ve never heard of The International Competition Network, don’t feel too special. The name sounds more like a cable channel than a gathering of antitrust agencies from more than 80 nations.
Blawgletter saw a press release about the ICN — specifically, its 6th annual conference — and decided to look into it. The augurs didn’t look promising; we don’t usually think of Russia, which hosted the conference, as a bastion of law enforcement. But on closer inspection the ICN seems at least semi-serious. It has working groups on cartels, competition policy implementation, unilateral conduct, and mergers. It also publishes reports on best practices as well as handbooks and workbooks on different enforcement issues.
We can’t predict whether the ICN will improve enforcement of competition law. But we do plan to keep an eye on it.
Barry Barnett
