OREANDA-NEWS. October 26, 2009. A delegation of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia), led by Igor Artemyev, the Head of FAS, took part in 107th session of the Competition Committee of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), reported the press-centre of FAS Russia.

At the Committee's session Igor Artemyev reported about the state of competition in Russia and modernization of the antimonopoly legislation and enforcement practice. Members of the Committee will assess if Russia is ready and able to assume the obligations of membership in OECD concerning competition law and policy. Presenting the report on competition is the first step towards Russia joining OECD as a full member.

 Deputy Head of FAS Russia Andrey Tsyganov and Andrei Tsarikovsky and the Head of the FAS Russia's Department for International Economic Cooperation Lesya Davydova made presentations at the Working Groups of OECD Competition Committee, that discussed such issues as applying the antimonopoly legislation to state corporations and suppressing discriminatory conditions on markets, particularly, on the telecommunication market.

Representatives of Russian delegation will also take part in the meeting of the Steering Group of the International Competition Network, and meet with representatives of the Finnish Competition Authority and the Federal Competition Commission of Mexico to sign Cooperation Agreements.

Reference:
For the first time Russia's intention to join the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) was stated in June 1995 at the summit of the leaders of G7 and Russia in Halifax (Canada). In May 1996 Russia officially applied to OECD for becoming its member. In December 2007 the Council of OECD named Russia's accession "the goal shared by the Organization".

OECD has several Committees that work in the field of competition policy, including Competition Committee, Committee for Trade and Competition Policy, Consumer Rights Committee; and the OECD Secretariat has a Department for Competition within the Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs.

In December 1995 Russia was given an observer status at the OECD Competition Committee and in 2007 confirmed its status for 2008-2009, which is an acknowledgment of the success achieved by the Russian Federation in developing competition law and its enforcement.

On 16th May 2007, the OECD Council met in Paris and at ministerial level made a decision to invite Russia, as well as Israel, Slovenia, Chili and Estonia, to start official discussions about accession to OECD.

On 30th November 2007 the OECD Council approved the "Accession Roadmap" for Russia. It includes general description of an individual plan for Russia's accession to OECD, the list of obligations and acts of OECD, in respect to which Russia must form its position. To discuss the issues related to the accession negotiations, OECD Deputy Secretary T. Aski visited Moscow on 12-13 February 2008.

The decision about inviting the Russian Federation to become an OECD member will be made on the basis of the following documents:

1) The Initial Memorandum presented by the Russian Federation;
2) A general review of the economic policy of the Russian Federation, as well as its policies on other several key issues, that are not fully or completely regulated under the OECD regulatory and legal framework;

3) Analytical reports about the position on the Russian Federation with regard to the documents, that are not subject to consideration by any OECD body.

The issues of competition were also addressed in one of the Sections of the Report on the Economic Policy in Russia. The Section was written by OECD experts based on the information provided by FAS Russia in the form of its responses to the OECD Accession Questionnaire on competition policy, and the findings from the "fact-finding and research mission" by OECD experts.

Also this Section was presented by the Russian competition authority in the form of its "Review of the antimonopoly legislation and enforcement practice of the Russian Federation in 2009" at the session of the OECD Competition Committee.

For the first time such a review was presented by the Russian competition authority at the session of the OECD Competition Committee in February 2004. Based on that review, the Committee discussed Russian competition policy in an open dialogue, aimed at examining competition policy in Russia, its weak and strong aspects in order to draft OECD recommendations about possible avenues for improving the situation with protection of competition in Russia. Russia was the first non-member for whom OECD carried out a Review of Regulatory Reform, a part of which was a Review of completion policy. Success of that event, which was highly appraised by all participants, has helped creating positive image of Russia and accelerated Russia's accession to OECD as its full member.

To facilitate Russia's joining OECD as a full member, FAS Russia on a regular basis takes part in the sessions of the Competition Committee and its Working Groups, which enables representatives of FAS Russia to be abreast the latest developments of OECD in the area of competition policy, participate in their discussions and inform OECD about Russia's achievements in this field, as well as use the experience of this respected organization in legislative and enforcement activities of FAS Russia.

Cooperation with OECD is instrumental for creating a positive image of Russia as a country with market economy, obtaining an observer status in the OECD Competition Committee and ultimately Russia's joining this influential international organization as a full member. Interfacing with OECD enabled to FAS Russia to use the experience of this organization in implementing competition policy and reforming natural monopolies, and improving Russia legislation and regulations in accordance with international standards.