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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, November 24, 1997 |
AT 202) 616-2765 TDD (202) 514-1888 |
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WASHINGTON, D.C. Attorney General Janet Reno and Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Joel I. Klein announced today the formation of a new committee to help tackle the international antitrust problems of the 21st Century. The International Competition Policy Advisory Committee is the first-ever on competition-related matters. It will advise Reno and Klein on international antitrust issues, including attacking transnational cartels, managing merger reviews that cover many jurisdictions, and dealing with anticompetitive practices that restrict international trade. "International cartel restraints cost consumers hundreds of millions of dollars each year," said Reno. "We need this committee to help us continue to prepare for the global economy." One quarter of the American gross domestic product now involves international trade. In recent years there has been a dramatic increase in international commerce and substantial growth in the impact of private agreements in restraint of international trade. The Department of Justice currently has some two dozen grand jury investigations involving cartels that cross national boundaries. Forging an international consensus to stamp out these private cartels is an Administration priority and a prime area for consideration by the Committee. Additionally, the number of mergers that involves companies of more than one nation, or that affect significant economic interests in more than one nation, is also on the rise. Added Klein, "the changing competitive realities have resulted in new challenges for enforcement of our antitrust laws. Cooperation and coordination among international antitrust enforcers is more crucial than ever." The Committee, co-chaired by a former Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust and a former chairwoman of the US International Trade Commission, is comprised of a distinguished panel of business, labor, academic, economic, and legal experts. Below is a list. CO-CHAIRS
MEMBERS
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
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