International Competition Network (ICN)
About the ICN
ICN is a network consisting of over 143 national and multinational competition agencies. It was established in October 2001 with the aim of facilitating procedural and substantive convergence and now is the largest international competition fora. Academics, lawyers and other practitioners contribute to the network as NGAs (Non-Governmental Advisors).
JFTC's involvement
JFTC has been involved in various activities of ICN, such as creating Recommended Practices or practical Reports. Moreover, JFTC has contributed to the ICN Annual Conferences and Workshops as speakers and moderators.
Followings are highlighted works of JFTC at ICN.
(1) 2023 ICN Unilateral Conduct Workshop (Tokyo, Japan)
JFTC hosted the 2023 ICN Unilateral Conduct Workshop on March 7 and 8, 2023 in Tokyo. About 370 officials and NGAs from over 50 countries and regions participated, and discussed the challenges of unilateral conducts in digital markets, advocacy activities and cooperation with other regulators in unilateral conduct area, etc., under the theme “Developments and Challenges of Competition Policy and Enforcement in the Current Unilateral Conduct Area.” Please refer to the agenda and conference materials of the workshop for more details.
(2) ICN's Framework for the Promotion of the Sharing of Non-confidential information for Cartel Enforcement
Based on JFTC's proposal, ICN established the “Framework for the Promotion of the Sharing of Non-Confidential Information for Cartel Enforcement” in 2016 to foster "Pick up the phone relationship" for effective cartel enforcement by supporting member agencies on information exchanges. Since then, JFTC has been maintaining the framework.
As of November 2022, 35 competition agencies participated in the framework. By joining the framework, competition agencies are more easily able to gather information related to their cartel investigations from other member agencies, within the constraints of confidentiality in each jurisdiction.
We welcome any inquiries from competition agencies about the framework (e-mail to: icn-list-maintenance_at_jftc.go.jp (Please replace “_at_” with “@”.)).
For Reference:
(3) ICN’s Framework for Merger Review Cooperation
"Framework for Merger Review Cooperation" was established at the ICN Annual Conference in 2012 in Rio in order to promote effective and efficient multijurisdictional merger review. The purpose of the Framework is to facilitate effective and efficient cooperation between and among the ICN member agencies by identifying each agency’s liaison officers and possible ways to exchange information.
The framework is open to all member agencies responsible for reviewing mergers. It does not create any legally binding rights or obligations for any of the participants of the framework. As of November 2022, 59 agencies participate in the framework.
JFTC is responsible for maintaining the framework. JFTC creates a contact list of liaison officers based on the information submitted by the member agencies and makes it available to those ICN members that participate in the framework. If a participant of the framework would like to contact the other agencies that are reviewing the same merger, it may use the contact list to approach the liaison officers of its counterpart agencies.
We welcome any inquiries from competition agencies about the framework (e-mail to: icn_at_jftc.go.jp (Please replace “_at_” with “@”.)).
For Reference:
(vii)Introduction Video
(4) 2018 ICN Merger Workshop (Tokyo, Japan)
JFTC hosted the 2018 ICN Merger Workshop on November 7 and 8, 2018 in Tokyo. Over 200 participants from about 40 jurisdictions got together, and discussed the role of merger review in the digital economy and the challenges of globalization under the theme “Merger Review in the 2020s: Do Digitalization and Globalization Change the Analysis?” Please refer to the agenda and conference materials of the workshop for more details.
ICN Templates
(5) Other activities
The International Competition Network (ICN), in its 'Training on Demand' Taskforce project, created the following video on public affairs, which was published on the ICN's website and YouTube in March 2023.
This module was prepared in the form of interviews with representatives from the Belgian Competition Authority, CADE (Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica(Brazil)), South African Competition Commission, CMA (Competition and Markets Authority(UK)) and the JFTC about public affairs activities in order to promote the public understanding of the importance of competition law and the activities of competition authorities. The JFTC representative (Mr. Komuro) introduces the JFTC’s activities, including the ‘Antimonopoly Act Classroom’.
The interview times of Mr. Komuro are as follows
10:58-12:10
33:13-34:08
41:40-42:37
48:55-50:25
Recent Presentation Materials
