The ICN UCWG’s report on the analysis of loyalty discounts and rebates (2009) identifies a range of views as to the appropriate legal framework for analysing this type of unilateral conduct. While some agencies consider loyalty rebates and discounts as equivalent to offering a price discount on a single product and apply a standard […]

  The Unilateral Conduct co-chairs invite members and NGAs to reflect on the ideas of convergence and enhanced participation in the UCWG highlighted in two articles on the UCWG, published in the Competition Policy International ICN column. The first article, Climbing Mount Everest with the ICN Unilateral Conduct Working Group, describes the steps that the […]

On November 8, the ICN’s Unilateral Conduct Working Group will present a webinar on “Abuse of Dominance in the Energy Sector:   The EU experience.”  A representative from the European Commission will present an overview of antitrust enforcement in the energy sector followed by discussion of two case studies presented by the Italian and Spanish competition […]

  Cost benchmarks often are used to determine whether an alleged predator is selling at a loss or sacrifice, and also may be considered to evaluate the legality of loyalty discounts and rebates.  There is no single cost measure used by all member agencies.  Indeed, agencies may use more than one measure depending on the […]

  The Canadian Competition Bureau offers a pamphlet-style quick guide to the abuse of market power in Canada, including basic information about the abuse of dominant position sections of the Competition Act.  Also available in French.

  This post begins a weekly series on the latest developments in unilateral conduct issues, courtesy of the Unilateral Conduct Working Group. Our first entry is Mexico’s investigation into a complaint of monopolistic practices in interconnection markets.  Official notice of the investigation can be found here (Spanish only). Also, the US DOJ recently issued a […]

  For those of you not attending the Unilateral Conduct Workshop on 2-3 December 2010, hosted in Brussels by the Directorate General for Competition of the European Commission, we invite you to watch a live webcast of the workshop’s plenary sessions.  To do so, click here or follow the link on the ICN website, which contains […]

  On November 2, 2010, the Unilateral Conduct Working Group held a teleseminar on unilateral conduct in the pharmaceutical industry.  To listen to a recording of the program, click here.  To view the accompanying slide deck, click here. <HR>

  CARTEL WORKSHOP October 5-7, 2010 Yokohama, Japan  The Japan Fair Trade Commission will host the 7th annual ICN cartel workshop. The theme of this year’s workshop is the efficient detection, investigation and punishment of cartel conduct – making the best use of agency resources.  Contact the workshop host here.   MERGER WORKSHOP November 3-4, […]

  For Member Agencies interested in finding out more about what the Working Groups have planned for the coming year, now is an excellent time to get involved as most projects for 2010-11 are in their initial stages.   Here is a list of who to contact to join a Working Group or find out […]