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p. 58 of 62 BACK | NEXT Purpose and Structure of the Toolkit Overview of Practices Controlled by Competition Law Countries with Competition Law Systems Benefits of Competition Policy Practices Controlled by Competition Law Key Concepts and Tools Competition, Privatization, and Regulation Emerging Economies Enforcement Mechanisms Role of the Legislature, the Government and Ministers Independent Competition Authorities Accountable Competition Authorities Design of the Competition Authority Procedures of the Competition Authority Transparent Decision-Making Powers of the Competition Authority Sanctions Leniency Program Competition Law Compliance Programs Administrative Guidance Role of the Courts Miscellaneous Points ADB Resources and Projects Other Resources Glossary and List of Abbreviations

Competition Law Toolkit : Enforcement Mechanisms

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M. Miscellaneous Points

As noted at the beginning of this toolkit, there are now at least 100 systems of competition law in the world, in every continent and in every kind of economy. These systems of law have much in common, in particular the prohibition of cartels and provisions to prevent the abuse of market power. Many of them also contain some kind of control over mergers. Despite these similarities, there are also many substantive, procedural, and institutional differences between the various systems of law. A comparative analysis of different regimes can provide useful insights into what makes a successful competition law and can assist in the formulation of proposals for new laws. All of the issues discussed in this section of the toolkit have been addressed in some of the competition law systems of the world.

A very valuable tool when considering the strengths and weaknesses of different systems of competition law is the work of the OECD in Paris, which has a program of conducting in-depth reviews of national competition laws and policies; it has been doing this since 1998. The reviews assess how each country deals with competition and regulatory issues by looking both at the laws themselves and at the structure and effectiveness of their competition institutions. The reports on the reviews are published in the OECD's website. The reports typically incorporate recommendations for changes in government policy. To date, the OECD has published reviews for 22 countries, including the US, the European Union, South Korea, and Japan. In 2006, it will conduct a review of Sweden and Taipei,China.

A speech entitled, Achieving Better Practices in the Design of Competition Policy Institutions [ PDF ] was given at the Seoul Competition Forum of 2004 by William E. Kovacic, who was General Counsel of the US Fair Trade Commission at the time and is now a Commissioner of that institution. Kovacic suggested a number of steps that competition authorities might take towards the achievement of better practices.

• The conduct of periodic comprehensive reviews in each competition jurisdiction of the effectiveness of its competition policy institutions
• Routine ex post evaluation of competition institutions' public policy interventions and administrative processes
• Enhancement and disclosure of data bases in order to provide a full statistical profile of enforcement activity
• Explanation of actions taken and not taken
• Assessment of human capital, since the capacity of an agency's staff deeply affects what it can establish
• Investment in competition policy research and development
• Recognition of policymaking interdependencies
• Comparative study

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