Antitrust Lawyer Blog Commentary on Current Developments

Fifth Annual International Competition Network Conference

On April 27, the DOJ announced that Assistant Attorney General Thomas O. Barnett will participate in the fifth annual International Competition Network (“ICN”) Conference in Cape Town, South Africa, on May 3-5, 2006. At the conference, senior antitrust officials and private antitrust experts from around the world as well as representatives from intergovernmental organizations will meet to discuss competition issues. The ICN conference will focus on the recent work of its four substantive working groups – (1) Cartels, (2) Mergers, (3) Antitrust Enforcement in the Telecommunications Sector, and (4) Competition Policy Implementation. ICN member agencies participate in these project-oriented working groups to address policy and enforcement issues and formulate proposals for ICN consensus. Private sector experts and intergovernmental organizations are active participants in the working groups. Conference discussions will address the issues considered by the four working groups and will include: obstruction of justice in cartel investigations; digital evidence gathering; the interaction of public and private enforcement in cartel investigations; the analytical framework for merger review; suggested best practices in antitrust enforcement in the telecommunications sector; and the promotion of competition policy in developing and transition economies. Participants will also discuss the implementation of the ICN Recommended Practices for Merger Notification and Review Procedures and other ICN work product.

Andre Barlow

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