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On September 28-29, 2023, the Latin American and Caribbean Competition Forum (FLACC), promoted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), was held in the city of Quito. Our associate, Christian Razza, writes a reflection on this event in an article for The Legal Industry Reviews (LIR).
Razza points out that the FLACC is an annual event in which international experts and competition authorities from around the world share experiences in the application of competition law.
He also notes that this year’s event, which Ecuador hosted for the first time, discussed the following topics: poverty, sports, and the Dominican Republic’s peer review.
1. Competition and poverty
In this regard, Razza points out that during the FLACC, the role of competition policy in poverty reduction was discussed, considering that poverty reduction continues to be a priority for Latin American and Caribbean countries. He adds that the event provided examples of how competition authorities can contribute through their actions to poverty reduction, both from the point of view of enforcement and advocacy.
In the same context, Razza stresses that Eleanor Fox, professor emeritus at New York University School of Law, explained that the lack of competition in food markets hurts the poorest households the most and that more competitive markets foster long-term employment growth.
2. Competition and sports
On this topic, Razza indicates that key competition issues related to the sports industry were discussed, including competition in the organization of sports leagues (e.g., the existence of a monopoly and possible abusive behavior by league organizers), sports broadcasting rights, the sale of tickets for sporting events, and sports labor markets.
He adds that the Spanish National Commission for Markets and Competition pointed out in its intervention that in Europe the process of interaction between competition and sport will be influenced by the rulings of the Court of Justice on the International Skating Union and the Super League, which will be handed down at the end of this year. These rulings will either intensify the trend towards greater application of competition law to sport or limit it.
3. Peer reviewed Dominican Republic’s competition regime
In this regard, our partner specifies that this review is an instrument that allows evaluating the policies, strategies and activities of the country and its effectiveness, to achieve its social and economic objectives in accordance with international best practices in competition law. He adds that Ecuador was subjected to this review in 2021 and that the competition law and policy standards of the Dominican Republic were evaluated by its peer countries as follows: representatives of Costa Rica evaluated the institutional aspects, Chilean technicians reviewed the defense issues, and their Mexican peers oversaw the competition advocacy aspects.
To conclude, Razza emphasizes that the FLACC is one of the most important events for the international competition community and, therefore, the fact that Ecuador has hosted the FLACC will allow the Superintendence of Economic Competition and Ecuador to propose and participate in a leading role in the debates and dialogues that determine the progress of research in the field, as well as to facilitate the dissemination of knowledge and cutting-edge methodologies with the actors of the Ecuadorian regime in favor of the markets.