15, March 2016
Fair Trade Commission
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
At the regular bilateral meeting on competition policy between the competition authorities of Japan and the European Union (EU) held today, confirming that cooperation between them in the competition policy area should be further strengthened, they have decided to commence preparatory works for negotiation on an amendment of “the Agreement between the Government of Japan and the European Community concerning Cooperation on Anticompetitive Activities” (concluded in 2003) in order to allow their competition authorities to facilitate the exchange of information obtained during the course of an investigation.
Reference
In recent years, as business activities develop globally, there are more and more cases where violation of competition laws of multiple countries or territories is concerned or situations where the enforcement activities by the competition authority of one country could affect the interests of other countries. Under such situations, the need to internationalize the enforcement activities and to enhance furthermore the cooperation between competition authorities is increasing. In September 2014, “Recommendation concerning International Co-operation on Competition Investigations and Proceedings,” which requests to promote international cooperation between competition authorities on effective competition law enforcement, including through the adoption of legal provisions allowing for the exchange of confidential information between competition authorities without the need to obtain prior consent from the source of the information, was approved by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) Council.
(Link to the OECD website:http://www.oecd.org/competition/international-coop-competition-2014-recommendation.htm)
*Every announcement is tentative translation. Please refer to the original text written in Japanese.
