The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is part of a team which will be hosting a Regional Workshop on Competition Law and Policy on 12 and 13 October, 1999 in Trinidad and Tobago.
The University of the West Indies(UWI), St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) are the other institutions behind the programme.
The workshop will feature presentations under three main headings: Principles and Application of Competition Law and Policy; Global and Hemispheric Trade Liberalisation and Competition; and the Scope and Rules of Competition Applicable in Regional Integration Agreements with particular Emphasis on the Caribbean.
Regional representatives will pay special attention to the sub-topics such as, the state of play in the FTAA negotiations on competition policy: some considerations for CARIFORUM countries; the European Union intra-regional competition regime and extra-regional cooperation, and a round table discussion on, What competition regime for CARICOM?
Also of equal importance will be a presentation on competition provisions of the Treaty of Chaguaramas, development of Protocol IX and its implications for community-wide regulation, and legal and institutional machinery for enforcement in the CARICOM Single Market and Economy.
Protocol IX addresses the rules of competition in CARICOM and establishes certain ground rules for the conduct of enterprises to ensure healthy competition and consumer welfare.
Representatives of several organisations will share their expertise, and experiences on sub-topics such as, the role of competition policy in economic reform; control of cartels, abuse of dominance and mergers: French experiences; international cooperation agreements: overview and issues; bilateral and multilateral cooperation agreements; the issue of extra-territoriality: US law and practice.
Resource personnel will be drawn from regional and international institutions including UWI, the Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM), UNCTAD, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Secretariat, and the European Union.
The feature address at the opening of the workshop will be made by the Rt. Hon. Mervyn Assam, Minister of Trade, Industry and Consumer Affairs, Trinidad and Tobago. There will also be brief remarks by Mr. Phillip Brusick, Chief, Competition Law and Policy and Consumer Protection, UNCTAD; Professor Compton Bourne, Pro Vice Chancellor and Principal of the St-Augustine Campus, UWI, Mr. Kleran J. O’Cuneen, Head, European Communities Delegation, and Sir Alister McIntyre, Chief Technical Advisor, Regional Negotiating Machinery.
