WASHINGTON, D.C. ­ Charles A. James, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department's Antitrust Division, will participate in the first annual International Competition Network Conference in Naples, Italy on September 28-29, 2002. The conference is an unprecedented meeting of antitrust agencies from over 50 jurisdictions from six continents who will come together to discuss antitrust issues.

The main focus of the conference will be to discuss issues arising in the context of mergers subject to multi-jurisdictional review and with the role of antitrust authorities as advocates for competition-oriented reform. Panel discussions will review the efforts of two working groups that were formed in October 2001 to consider these issues. Topics of discussion will include: guiding principles and recommended practices for merger notification and review, substantive standards of merger review and competition advocacy. The conference also will enable the participants to discuss future work efforts.

In October 2001, the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission joined with competition agencies from 13 other jurisdictions around the world (Australia, Canada, European Union, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, South Africa, United Kingdom and Zambia) to create the International Competition Network (ICN). The original concept for ICN grew out of the report of the International Competition Policy Advisory Committee, which recommended the formation of a global network of competition authorities to focus exclusively on competition issues.

The ICN has two main goals: 1) to provide support for new antitrust agencies both in enforcing their laws and in building strong competition cultures in their countries and 2) to promote greater convergence among antitrust authorities on sound competition principles. The ICN involves consultation with representatives of international organizations, economists, industry and consumer associations, and members of the academic community. It seeks to develop "best practice" recommendations for antitrust enforcement and competition advocacy. Any "best practice" recommendations would then be implemented voluntarily by the member agencies.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28: