BRICS fair trade regulators to strengthen co-operation

To ensure effective enforcement of competition rules, the BRICS nations on Friday agreed to strengthen co-operation among their fair trade regulators by exchanging views and boosting communication.

The region’s competition authorities acknowledged the benefits of technical co-operation in sound and effective enforcement of such laws.

The third BRICS — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — International Competition Conference, which started here on Thursday, witnessed deliberations on various aspects of fair trade practices.

Regulators expressed their “resolve and commitment to exchange views on different aspects of competition policy”, according to an official release.

These broad ideas are part of the ‘Delhi Accord’ signed by the heads of competition regulators from the five BRICS countries at the conference.

The summit here is being organised by the Competition Commission of India (CCI).

Besides, the authorities considered the need of establishing good communication among them on competition law and policy to bolster their relationship.

The next edition of the biennial conference would be held in South Africa.

Inaugurating the summit on Thursday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called for greater cooperation among competition authorities from across the world, in the wake of growing number of cross-border M&A deals and possible anti-competitive practices across boundaries.

Mr. Singh had said that co-operation in competition policy and enforcement is of vital importance and hoped that the summit would provide an opportunity to the authorities to share their experiences regarding common challenges and articulate a new consensus on key issues.

“BRICS competition authorities are also ideally positioned to bridge the gap between mature competition authorities and nascent ones,” he had said.