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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1, 2005 WWW.USDOJ.GOV |
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R. HEWITT PATE TO PARTICIPATE IN FOURTH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION NETWORK CONFERENCE IN BONN, GERMANY Largest Ever Gathering of Antitrust Officials WASHINGTON, D.C. Assistant Attorney General R. Hewitt Pate, in charge of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division, will participate in the fourth annual International Competition Network (ICN) Conference in Bonn, Germany, on June 6-8, 2005. The conference will be the largest gathering of antitrust officials from around the world to meet to discuss competition issues. The ICN conference will focus on the recent work of the four ICN working groups: Cartels, Mergers, Competition Policy Implementation, and Antitrust Enforcement in Regulated Sectors. ICN member agencies participate in project-oriented working groups that address policy and enforcement issues and formulate proposals for ICN consensus. Private sector experts and intergovernmental organizations are active participants in the working groups. Panel discussions will address the issues considered by the four working groups. Discussion topics will include: effective punishment for cartel conduct; leniency applications in anti-cartel investigations; two proposed recommended practices on merger remedies and competition agency powers; waivers of confidentiality in merger investigations; improving investigative techniques for merger review; the analytical framework for merger review; merger remedies; examining the relationships between antitrust agencies and regulators; the promotion of competition policy in developing and transition economies; and implementation of ICN work product. The conference also will enable the participants to finalize work plans for the next year. In October 2001, the Department of Justice and the FTC joined with antitrust agencies from 13 other jurisdictions around the world (Australia, Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, South Africa, the United Kingdom and Zambia) to create the ICN. The ICN now includes nearly 90 member agencies from 80 jurisdictions. The ICN has two main goals: 1) to promote greater substantive and procedural convergence among antitrust authorities on sound competition principles; and 2) to provide support for new antitrust agencies, both in enforcing their laws and in building strong competition cultures in their countries. The ICN involves consultation with representatives of international organizations, antitrust practitioners, economists, industry and consumer associations, and members of the academic community.
The following portions of the conference will be open to the press: MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2005: 12th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON COMPETITION
MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2005: 4th ANNUAL ICN CONFERENCE (DAY 1)
TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2005: 4th ANNUAL ICN CONFERENCE (DAY 2)
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8, 2005: 4th ANNUAL ICN CONFERENCE (DAY 3)
Complete information about the conference is available at http://www.internationalcompetitionnetwork.org/annualconferences.html
and http://www.icn-bonn.org The ICN Conference will be located at the
International Congress Centre Bundeshaus Bonn, Germany.
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