Future direction of the ICN Cartel Working Group activities in international cooperation: Lessons from OECD/ICN survey 2013 ICN Cartel Workshop Thursday, 17 th October, 2013 Cape Town, South Africa Toshiyuki NAMBU Deputy Secretary General for International Affairs Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC)

Outline I.Three categories of suggestions from OECD/ICN Survey on how to improve the degree and quality of international cooperation II.Findings and challenges on cartel enforcement cooperation from a practical point of view on OECD/ICN survey III.Future direction of the ICN Cartel Working Group activities in international cooperation IV. Proposed ICN framework for promotion of sharing non- confidential information for cartel enforcement

1)Maximize the effectiveness and benefits of cooperation within the existing legal and practical constraints 2) Improve the existing system of cooperation by addressing the effect of existing legal and practical constraints on cooperation 3) Improve interactions between enforcers, establish contacts and develop procedures and best practices for more effective relationships Three categories of suggestions from OECD/ICN Survey on how to improve the degree and quality of international cooperation

Findings and challenges on cartel enforcement cooperation from a practical point of view on OECD/ICN survey  About half of the respondents had not cooperated on any investigation before.  Inexperience with cooperation reflects a lack of opportunities as well as a lack of willingness.  One of practical limitations to effective international cooperation derives from a lack of prior interaction between agencies, coupled with a lack of awareness of each other’s procedures and legal regimes.  Respondents indicated that development of personal contacts and pick-up- the-phone relationships is important in facilitating enforcement cooperation and those contacts contribute to cooperation in specific cases.  Respondents commented on the importance of the ICN in providing a platform for interaction which helps agencies build better relationships and “build trust,” which in turn foster increased international cooperation.

Future direction of the ICN CWG activities in international cooperation Improve interactions between enforcers and establish contacts ICN Cartel Workshop Discussion call series Develop procedures and best practices for more effective enforcement cooperation New framework to promote sharing of non-confidential information Many endeavor to monitor publicly available information about the ongoing work of other agencies in order to identify parallel investigations. Younger and smaller agencies may be hesitant to join formal enforcement cooperation agreements before experiencing a certain amount of actual cooperation. Challenges of ignorance of whom to liaise with to request information exchange on an informal basis and ignorance about whether and on what terms the counterpart agency can share information.

Proposed ICN framework for promotion of sharing non-confidential information for cartel enforcement  CWG will be able to support younger and smaller agencies to experience actual cooperation more easily even without entering into formal enforcement cooperation agreement.  Develop a new ICN framework for promotion of sharing non-confidential information for cartel enforcement Cover technical aspects of information exchange (e.g. registration of liaison officer, category of information to be exchanged, request procedure, secrecy,etc.).  Matured agencies are expected to join this framework and support investigation of younger and smaller agencies as long as the confidentiality obligation and the resource permit.  The nature of the ICN may be suitable for fostering such a framework and would complement the work of the OECD to develop formal mechanisms for improving international enforcement cooperation.