BRICS countries are moving to address antitrust regulation, both within individual countries and various interstate associations.
Experts and antitrust officials on June 3 met in Geneva to propose solutions to the challenges faced by antitrust authorities in the digital markets of the BRICS countries to find common ground, especially in regulation of digital platforms and AI.
According to BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre, the digitalization of the economy – legislature, trade, customs, logistics, – is entering its most active stage of development, itself a preparatory stage for the automation of the economy.
“One of the most pressing issues now, at the initial stage of digitalization, is still the streamlining and creation of a regulatory framework for future global processes,” BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre said in a statement.
It further noted that actions of antitrust agencies in different countries remain disparate and fragmented.
Antitrust refers to the regulation of the concentration of economic power, particularly in regard to monopolies and other anticompetitive practices.
EXPERTS TAKE
Alexey Ivanov, Director of the BRICS Competition Law and Policy Center, said lack of consensus leads to weakened enforcement, and ecosystems increase anti-competitive pressure on the market.
“Antitrust law is on the verge of losing its relevance and strength in the digital economy. We need some form of international agreement on the regulation of digital ecosystems, especially given the development of AI technologies,” Ivanov said.
The expert noted that each BRICS jurisdiction has its own objectives regarding competition law.
“There is a common core, which has been defined as consumer welfare, efficient allocation of resources and economic freedom. But so far, one of the bottlenecks in dealing with digital markets is market definition – the application of traditional market definition tools is challenged by the tendency of digital markets to be highly innovative and dynamic,” the expert said.
Victor Oliveira Fernandes, Commissioner of Brazilian Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) said that within their organization a number of new indicators have been developed to define the platform market.
For example, Fernandes said among the indicators presented are the ability to unilaterally impose conditions, including as a show of bargaining power, ownership of key datasets, ability to influence choice through online platform architecture, lack of transparency.
Since this year, the number of BRICS member countries has grown, and further expansion is being discussed and the organisation is becoming more active.
“The more active the more real contradictions and problems,” the experts noted.
FAIR COMPETITION
They, however, acknowledged there is a significant convergence among BRICS jurisdictions in recognizing the importance of certain essential standards, such as consumer welfare standards, even though there are also some differences worth highlighting.
Authorities in different countries, especially Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa, recognize other objectives, such as ensuring economic freedom or a level playing field for small and medium-sized enterprises. And these goals can somehow be translated into more elaborate legal standards for assessing abuse of dominance.
Ivanov noted that cooperation within the framework of supranational associations can give real results in the fight against violations of fair competition rules by global monopolists in local markets.
“Much more opportunities for developing countries lie in the area of cooperation. BRICS, as you know, is expanding and working in the area of developing joint enforcement actions, remedies, investigations, case reviews, because this is how you essentially balance the playing field in the fight against global companies,” Ivanov explained.
The meeting was attended by a wide pool of international experts and representatives of national and international competition authorities.
They included Fernandes, Rajinder Punja, Economic Director, CCI/ Representative from SAMR; Masako Wakui, Professor of Law, Kyoto University; Maria Ioannidou, Professor, Queen Mary University of London; Deni Mantzari, Associate Professor, University College of London and Ivanov.
The experts agreed to continue working on the creation of a harmonized system of supranational instruments of antitrust regulation.
MANDATE
The BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre is charged with the mandate of collecting and analyzing information from competition agencies, identifying best practices and preparing recommendations and developing approaches to competition policy that reflect the interests of the development of the BRICS economies.
Its key mission is to advance the development agenda and strengthen the role of competition regulation in overcoming imbalances in the global economy.
In doing this, the Centre brings together leading international universities and independent researchers actively involved in its main research projects on global food chains, sustainability policy and new approaches to antitrust regulation of the digital economy.
