CHRISTINE A. VARNEY TO PARTICIPATE IN EIGHTH
ANNUAL
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION NETWORK CONFERENCE
IN ZURICH, SWITZERLAND
WASHINGTON — Christine A. Varney, Assistant Attorney General
in charge of the Department's Antitrust Division, will participate in
the eighth annual International Competition Network (ICN) conference
in Zurich, Switzerland, from June 3-5, 2009. At the conference, senior
government antitrust officials, private-sector antitrust experts from
around the world, and representatives from intergovernmental organizations
will meet to discuss competition issues.
The ICN conference will focus on the recent accomplishments of its
five substantive working groups which address: unilateral conduct, mergers,
cartels, advocacy and competition policy implementation. Conference
panels will include discussions on proposed Recommended Practices for
Substantive Merger Analysis and the analysis of tying and discounting
arrangements, and will promote the general exchange of views regarding
competition law and policy among the participants. Members also will
finalize work programs for the coming year.
In October 2001, the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission
(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 107 member
agencies from 96 jurisdictions. The goal of the ICN is to provide a
forum for antitrust agencies to address antitrust enforcement and policy
issues of common interest and formulate proposals for procedural and
substantive convergence through a results-oriented agenda and structure.
The following portions of this year's conference will be open to the
press:
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2009: 8th ANNUAL ICN CONFERENCE
(DAY 1)
8:30 A.M. (Zurich), 2:30 A.M. (EDT) — Welcoming Remarks
by Swiss and ICN Officials
9:30 A.M. (Zurich), 3:30 A.M. (EDT) — Advocacy Session
John Fingleton, CEO of the U.K.'s Office of Fair Trading will moderate
the plenary session on market studies and competition advocacy. Panelists
will include Melanie L.
Aitkin, Interim Commissioner of Competition, Canadian Competition
Bureau and HackHyun Kim, Director of the Korea Fair Trading Commission.
Delegates will discuss these topics in breakout sessions.
1:30 P.M. (Zurich), 7:30 A.M. (EDT) — Merger Session
Christine A. Varney, Assistant Attorney General of the Department
of Justice's Antitrust Division, will moderate a panel on "Merger
Analysis in Troubled Times." J. Robert Kramer II, the Department of
Justice Antitrust Division's Director of Operations and Civil Enforcement,
will present Recommended Practices for Merger Analysis on competitive
effects. Delegates will discuss these topics in breakout sessions.
4:15 P.M. (Zurich), 10:15 A.M. (EDT) — Special Project
(Competition Law in Small Economies)
This session will be moderated by Walter A. Stoffel, Chairman of the
Swiss Competition Commission.
THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 2009: 8th ANNUAL ICN CONFERENCE
(DAY 2)
9:00 A.M. (Zurich), 3:00 A.M. (EDT) — Cartel Session
A plenary session, moderated by Scott D. Hammond, Deputy
Assistant Attorney General for Criminal Enforcement of the Department
of Justice's Antitrust Division, will examine "Transitioning From
an Administrative to a Criminal Regime." Panelists will include Graeme
Samuel, Chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
and Ana Paul Martinez, Head of the Competition Division of Brazil's
Secretariat of Economic Law of the Ministry of Justice. Delegates
will discuss criminalization of cartel conduct and investigative strategy
in breakout sessions.
11:45 A.M. (Zurich), 5:45 A.M. (EDT) — Unilateral
Conduct Session
FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz will provide introductory remarks, to the
plenary session focusing on "Distinguishing Pro From Anticompetitive
Conduct: The Fine Line Between Aggressive Competition and Anticompetitive
Foreclosure in Tying and Discounting Cases." The panel discussion
will be moderated by Markus Lange, Head of the International Section
of Germany's Bundeskartellamt, with participants including Damien
Neven, Chief Economist of the European Commission's DG Comp, and chief
economists from the competition authorities of Israel and South Africa.
Delegates will discuss these topics in breakout sessions.
4:15 P.M. (Zurich), 10:15 A.M. (EDT) — Competition
Policy Implementation Session
Maria Coppola Tineo, Counsel for International Antitrust at the FTC's
Office of International Affairs, is a panelist for a discussion of
agency effectiveness. Russell Damtoft, Associate Director of the FTC's
Office of International Affairs, will present a summary of ICN activities
this past year on its experience sharing teleconferences and on-line
discussion forum. Delegates will discuss these topics in breakout
sessions.
FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 2009: 8th ANNUAL ICN CONFERENCE
(DAY 3)
9:00 A.M. (Zurich), 3:00 A.M. (EDT) — Interactive
ICN — Maximizing Network Effects
This session will focus on the three ICN vice chairs' present and
future work, including Vice Chair for Outreach, FTC Commissioner William
E. Kovacic. Commissioner Kovacic will join other ICN members in discussing
how the ICN can address better the needs of its members.
1:15 P.M. (Zurich), 7:15 A.M. (EDT) — Closing
Complete information about the conference is available at http://www.icn-zurich.org/.
The 2009 ICN conference will be held at the Kongresshaus Zürich,
Gotthardstrasse 5, Postfach 2523
CH-8022 in Zurich, Switzerland.
