OREANDA-NEWS. November 22, 2010. The FAS Russia’s delegation took part in the 6th UN Conference on the UN Set of Multilaterally Agreed Equitable Principles and Rules for the Control of Restrictive Business Practices (United Nations Set), reported the press-centre of FAS Russia.

At the plenary session the Conference elected its new President and other executive officials. Andrey Tsyganov, Deputy Head of FAS Russia, was elected one of the Conference Vice-Presidents. Electing a FAS Russia’s representative to this position reflects recognition of FAS success in developing competition and will strengthen its image throughout the global competition community.

Andrey Tsyganov also addressed the top-level session where the heads of competition authorities gave their assessment of the current state of affairs in the filed of competition and especially the work of competition bodies in the period of the economic crisis.

As a Vice-President, Andrey Tsyganov moderated the session, where the Conference adopted its final document – the Conference Resolution. The final document incorporated an important principle for FAS Russia – close examination of competition development at a sub-regional level within the framework of international organizations.

This year a special session focused on the Review of Competition Policy in the Republic of Armenia, where Andrey Tsyganov gave a peer assessment of the competition policy in Armenia. Peer reviews were also given by competition authorities from Germany, Hungary, Indonesia and some other countries.

At the Conference experts from different countries around the globe discussed a wide range of issues and studied the key problems, including leniency programmes as a competition enforcement tool against the most dangerous cartels in developing countries; drafting and applying competition laws in countries with different levels of market maturity; the role of competition advocacy, merger control and effective enforcement in the period of economic crisis; and the obstacles to strengthening competition in certain sectors of the economy.

“The 6th UN Conference is not only a possibility to look back and sum up out past achievements but also an opportunity to look forward to the secure future; and in order to build it we must now more actively use potential advantages of competitive markets for the benefits of millions of peoples throughout the world”, emphasized Andrey Tsyganov. “In spite of different points of view regarding the right balance between the market and the state, competition authorities need a broader global approach to international cartels and monopolization, both at the national and international levels.”

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In 1980 only 15 countries had the law on competition or antimonopoly law. Today UNCTAD comprises 112 member-countries, including such “giants” as Russia, the USA, India and China, as well as smaller states. Other 14 countries are drafting their first competition laws.