Competition Advocacy: the Brazilian Experience

1
Competition Advocacy the Brazilian Experience

• Secretariat for Economic Monitoring - SEAE
• Council for Economic Defense - CADE

Ministry of Justice Ministry of Finance
2
Competition Tasks

• Mergers
• Anticompetitive Conducts
• Competition Advocacy

3
What is Competition Advocacy?

• Competition advocacy refers to those activities
  conducted by a competition authority related to
  the promotion of a competition environment by
  means of non-enforcement mechanisms, mainly
  through its relationships with other governmental
  entities and by increasing public awareness of
  the benefits of competition (ICN).

4
Regulation and Competition Advocacy

• Free Market Environment
• Costs of Regulation
• Context of Developing Countries

5
Challenges to Competition Advocacy

• Fight Rent-Seeking Activities (predatory
  competition)
• Incorporate Competition as a Value
• Develop Contact with Regulatory Agencies

6
International Experience

• Comision Federal de Competencia CFC (Mexico)
• Office of Fair Trading OFT (UK)
• Department of Justice DOJ and Federal Trade
  Commission FTC (US)

7
Means to an End

• Analysis of Competition Rules (previously or a
  posteriori)
• Review of Antidumping rights, safegards and other
  foreign trade regulations or measures
• Formal and Informal Meetings with governamental
  Authorities

8
Advocacy Initiatives in Brazil I

• Structure of the Brazilian Competition System
  (CADE, SDE, SEAE)
• Secretariat for Economic Monitoring SEAE The
  New Competition Bill

9
Advocacy Initiatives II The Denatran Case

• Cartel Investigation in the Driving School Market
  Predatory Competition Contention
• Regulatory Body (Denatran - federal) fixing
  maximum prices (price lists)
• Regulatory Body (Detran - state) fixing minimum
  prices (price lists)

10
Advocacy Initiatives III The Denatran Case

• Reason for the Regulation (assurance of quality
  of the driving schools service)
• Regulatory measure (minimum prices) is not
  adequate to the regulatory goal (quality)
• Regulatory measure is not needed there are less
  restrictive means

11
Advocacy Initiatives IV The Denatran Case

• Several Meetings Held with Denatran and the
  Federal Department of Justice
• Elimination of the Anticompetitive Regulation by
  Denatran

12
Next Challenges

• Regional and Local regulations
• Taxi Market, Funeral Services

13

• Thank you

Secretariat for Economic Monitoring General
Coordination for Competition Defense