Competition
There is a general consensus among many countries that trade liberalisation
fosters competition. Tariffs have been reduced to improve
market access. This has had the effect of increasing liberalisation
and globalisation of markets. However business has highlighted
concerns about possible non-tariff barriers, which may
act as barriers to trade. Anti-competitive behaviour can
take many forms, including ; collusion to divide markets
and/or increase prices; or abuse of monopoly power to
keep out competitors and increase prices. Such practices
can significantly harm consumers, other businesses and
ultimately lead to a less efficient economy. National
competition policies have therefore looked at ways of
addressing the
anti-competitive behaviour.
The WTO already has some provisions
on competition in existing agreements, example the agreements
on services and telecommunications. A
WTO Working Group, established in 1996 consisting of the
member countries, explored the interaction between trade and competition.
This included
the overall objective of an international approach to
competition policy and how it could promote trade. During
this process, the Government noted that there were concerns
on the nature of any rules and how they would work in
practice, particularly in relation to existing competition
law. Moreover, the Government thought that the development
needs of countries would have to be fully considered.
The aim was that negotiations on a multilateral competition agreement
would be launched at the fifth ministerial conference
at Cancun in 2003. However WTO members were unable to
agree, by explicit consensus at that meeting, on this
course of action. At the July 2004 meeting of the WTO
General Council, a decision was taken (dated 1 August)
that ‘no work towards negotiations on (trade and competition)
will take place within the WTO during the Doha Round’.
The Government supported the idea of negotiations in principle, but
has of course accepted this decision. We continue to be responsible for developing UK policy on trade and competition in
conjunction with other interested DTI Directorates, particularly
Consumer and Competition Policy, the Department For International
Development and other Government Departments.
Contact:
Dave Harvey
Tel: 020 7215 6773
Fax: 020 7215 6226
e-mail : david.Harvey@dti.gsi.gov.uk
Related work on competition is ongoing in the
OECD and UNCTAD
