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Competition

International Competition Network (ICN)

The ICN is an informal network of competition agencies devoted exclusively to competition issues. It provides competition authorities with a specialised yet informal venue to maintaining regular contacts and addressing practical competition concerns.

Membership is voluntary and open to national or international competition agencies.

The ACCC was a founding member of the ICN in 2001 and is currently a Co-Chair of the ICN Framework on Competition Agency Procedures (ICN CAP).

The ICN CAP is a non-binding document that contains in its annexure a set of principles that are intended to codify minimum standards for procedural fairness in participating agencies’ competition investigations.

We participate in the following ICN working groups:

  • Cartel Working Group
  • Merger Working Group
  • Unilateral Conduct Working Group (the ACCC is a co-chair)
  • Agency Effectiveness Working Group
  • Advocacy Working Group.

The ACCC is also a member of the ICN Steering Group and is the ICN’s Horizontal Coordinator.

For more information, see the ICN website.

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

The OECD Competition Committee is an international forum for discussions on competition policy issues.

The OECD promotes policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world. Governments work together to understand what drives economic, social and environmental change.

The OECD has a number of policy committees who undertake work directly relevant to the interests of the ACCC and AER. These include the Competition Committee, Network of Economic Regulators and Committee on Consumer Policy.

For more information, see the OECD website.

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)

APEC works to facilitate economic growth, cooperation, trade and investment in the region.

It was established in 1989 to further enhance economic growth and prosperity for the region and to strengthen the Asia-Pacific community.

The ACCC has participated in the APEC Group on Competition Policy and Deregulation. Work within this group focuses on regulatory reform in APEC economies, technical assistance and development programs, and technical cooperation and institutional development in the region.

For more information, see the APEC website.

ASEAN-Australia and New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA)

Australia became a Party to the AANZFTA in 2010. This FTA pioneered the inclusion of an Economic Cooperation Work Program (ECWP) to support FTA implementation.

Since 2014 the AANZFTA has funded the ACCC to lead a strategically planned multi-year technical cooperation program, the AANZFTA Competition Law Implementation Program (CLIP).

In 2019 the ACCC also commenced cooperation on consumer protection under the AANZFTA ECWP.

For more information, see the following websites:

Seoul International Competition Forum

The Seoul International Competition Forum is a venue for chief officials of international competition agencies to share their views on diverse and most recent issues in competition laws and policies.

Competitive Neutrality: Discussion Paper for 8th Seoul Competition Forum - Mark Pearson - September 2014 ( PDF 141.46 KB | DOCX 49.93 KB )

East Asia Top Level Officials’ Meeting on Competition Policy (EATOP)

The East Asia Top Level Officials’ Meeting on Competition Policy aims to strengthen the cooperative relationship among competition authorities by discussing better ways to cooperate, and review recent developments in competition law. The meeting aims to attract agency head/commissioner level participation.

The ACCC is a regular participant and contributor to this meeting, given the technical cooperation provided by CLIP throughout the region.

Consumer protection

International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN)

ICPEN is a network of governmental consumer protection authorities from around the globe cooperating to share information about cross-border commercial activities affecting consumers, and to encourage international enforcement cooperation among consumer protection agencies.

For more information, see the ICPEN website.

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

The ACCC’s participation in the OECD’s consumer protection work is through its membership on related working groups. The ACCC is the current lead of the Product Safety Working Group.

Visit the ACCC's Product Safety Australia website for more information on Australia's product safety and product safety recalls.

Regulation

Asia-Pacific development and technical cooperation

Along with other regulators in the region, the ACCC works with the ASEAN Expert Group on Competition, ASEAN Committee on Consumer Protection, APEC and OECD Korea Competition Policy Centre to build the Asia-Pacific region’s capability to implement effective competition and consumer law .

See also

International relations

International Competition Network

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