The Polish Antitrust Authority is responsible for implementation of the first stage of international initiative concerning the cooperation with judges. Its results will be presented next year during the most significant event devoted to competition protection, which is to be held in Poland. In 2013 UOKiK will be the host country of the 12^thAnnual Conference of the International Competition Network (ICN)

International Competition Network (ICN) was created in 2001. UOKiK has been operating on its forum since its establishment. Currently it is composed of 123 competition protection authorities representing 108 antitrust jurisdictions from all over the world. The main objective of the ICN is sharing knowledge and experiences concerning best ways of combating competition-restricting practices, in particular taking into account its cross-border dimension.

The President of UOKiK introduced the project of cooperation between antitrust agencies and judges – the ICN Steering Committee entrusted its implementation to UOKiK and the Chilean Competition Protection Authority - Tribunal de Defensa de la Libre Competencia

Heads and experts from antitrust agencies being members of the Network meet annually at the ICN conference held by one of the allied countries. So far, Seoul, Moscow and the Hague have been the hosts to the meetings. This year, the 11^th conference was organized by Brazilian Competition Policy System and was held in Rio de Janeiro. Following the tradition, the host country draws up a specific project regarding competition. Brazil has raised the topic of negotiating settlements as the key issue of the event. The remaining concepts of the 11^th Annual Conference concerned the following basic fields of ICN operation - effectiveness of antitrust authorities and promoting the competition policy.

During this year’s debate UOKIK’s experts presented their experiences in merger control, detecting tender collusions as well as actions promoting positive aspects of competition among market participants. The President of UOKiK introduced the project of cooperation between antitrust agencies and judges – the ICN Steering Committee entrusted its implementation to UOKiK and the Chilean Competition Protection Authority - Tribunal de Defensa de la Libre Competencia. The initiative is aimed at identifying practical tools and methods which will facilitate the cooperation between antitrust agencies and courts in antitrust cases. The works shall result also in preparing guidelines for antitrust authorities in the scope of submission of economic evidence in decisions. The issue of cooperation with judiciary will be discussed in the special project of the Polish Antitrust Authority which will be presented during the next ICN conference.

In April 2013 the 12^th Annual Conference of the International Competition Network will be held in Poland. The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection was entrusted with the organization of the host meeting for 500 representatives of antitrust agencies, worldwide – this clearly demontrates the recognition of our previous activity in the international arena. This year’s meeting in Rio de Janeiro was concluded with the presentation of the host to the next-year ICN conference – the President of UOKiK, Mrs Małgorzata Krasnodębska-Tomkiel. When inviting participants to the event to Warsaw, the President emphasised once again the role of joint initiatives – At the time of globalization, the existence of effective cooperation between competition protection authorities at international level is of great significance. For this reason, the active commitment in such projects constitutes one of priorities set by UOKiK.

All conference materials are available at: http://icn-rio.org/brazil1.html

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Additional information for the media:
Marta Skrobisz, Head of Unit
Department of International Relations and Communication
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa
Phone: +48 22 55 60 311
Fax: +48 22 826 11 86
E-mail: [SCODE]bWFydGEuc2tyb2Jpc3pAdW9raWsuZ292LnBs[ECODE]