Technical Assistance Workshop: Agenda

Welcome and Introduction
Deborah Platt Majoras
Chairman, Federal Trade Commission

The DOJ-FTC Technical Assistance Program, 1990-2007: Reviewing the First Two Decades
For nearly two decades, the FTC and DOJ have promoted market competition around the world by providing technical assistance, primarily with USAID funding, to new competition agencies and to countries in the process of reforming their markets and adopting competition laws. The agencies have conducted approximately 400 missions to scores of countries on short-term trips and multimonth advisory missions. During this session, FTC and DOJ representatives described the how the program has operated, shared their varied experiences with competition agencies worldwide, and discussed how to maximize the effectiveness of technical assistance. Competition officials from several countries discussed technical assistance from the perspective of a recipient and offered valuable suggestions for making the program even better.

Moderator:
Anne Purcell White, Assistant Chief, Foreign Commerce Section, Antitrust Division, DOJ

Panelists:
Elizabeth Callison, Senior Economic Advisor, Bureau of Economics, FTC
Craig Conrath, Trial Attorney, Antitrust Division, DOJ
Timothy T. Hughes, Counsel for International Technical Assistance, Office of International Affairs, FTC
Csaba Kovacs, Head of Competition Policy Section, Hungarian Competition Authority
Graciela Ortiz, President, Competition Tribunal, INDECOPI (Lima, Peru)

Break

The Expanding Role of Consumer Protection in Developing Legal and Economic Policies Through Technical Assistance
For over a decade, the FTC has provided technical assistance on a variety of consumer protection topics to a variety of nations in a variety of formats. Topics have included institution building, components of effective consumer protection systems, advertising regulation, electronic commerce, and consumer credit. The FTC has delivered this assistance through resident advisors, short-term missions, seminars at international meetings, study tours in the United States, and bilateral contacts (telephone and videoconference). The FTC has also attempted to facilitate the role of other U.S. government consumer agencies in rounding out the assistance effort.

Moderator:
Hugh Stevenson, Deputy Director for Consumer Protection, Office of International Affairs, FTC

Panelists:
Virag Balogh, Investigator, Hungarian Competition Authority
Russell Damtoft, Associate Director, Office of International Affairs, FTC
David Lafleur, CRCM, Senior Examination Specialist, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Rich O'Brien, Head of International Programs, Consumer Product Safety Commission
Pablo Zylberglait, Counsel for International Consumer Protection, FTC

World Experience in Delivering Technical Assistance
The DOJ and the FTC have not been alone in thinking about how to most effectively deliver technical assistance to newer competition agencies. The International Competition Network has engaged in a significant project to identify what works well and what does not. Several academic researchers have studied the problem, as has the World Bank and other multilateral organizations. The OECD Competition Committee has provided a unique form of technical assistance around the globe for years. In addition, development agencies from several other jurisdictions fund significant technical assistance efforts. This session tapped into these resources to explore what can be learned from these institutions.

Moderator:
Russell Pittman, Director of Technical Assistance and Economic Research, Antitrust Division, DOJ

Panelists:
Alberto Heimler, Central Director for Research and International Affairs, Italian Competition Authority
, Advisor, Competition Policy, World Bank
Anne Purcell White, Assistant Chief, Foreign Commerce Section, Antitrust Division, DOJ
Edward Whitehorn, Head of Competition Relations with Non-members, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (Paris)

Lunch

Perspectives on Antitrust Technical Assistance Needs Across the Globe
In order to optimize agency technical assistance programs, it is first important to understand the primary needs of new agencies and developing economies in the area of competition law and policy. This panel provided a variety of perspectives on what the greatest needs are overseas, and on how DOJ and FTC can design their missions to best address those needs. Specific topics included how antitrust technical assistance contributes to economic growth and development, what technical assistance needs are going unmet, setting priorities for technical assistance, the extent to which the needs of a competition agency vary with level of development, and the role of the private sector and other donors in technical assistance.

Moderator:
Russell Damtoft, Associate Director, Office of International Affairs, FTC

Panelists:
Stan Anderson, Senior Counsel to the President, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Eleanor M. Fox, Professor, New York University School of Law
Nicholas S. Klissas, Senior Commercial Law Reform Advisor, USAID
Angel López Hoher, Comisión Federal de Competencia (Mexico)
Russell Pittman, Director of Technical Assistance and Economic Research, Antitrust Division, DOJ
James F. Rill, Partner, Howrey LLP 

Break

Moving Forward: Technical Assistance for the 21st Century
This final interactive roundtable drew on the wisdom of experts with a variety of perspectives, as well as the rest of the day's discussions, to chart out a course for making future technical assistance missions even more effective. The panel was moderated by FTC Commissioner Kovacic, who not only shared his extensive experience with antitrust technical assistance but also endeavored to develop concrete recommendations that can be implemented by the DOJ and FTC as they design missions to promote competition law and policy in ever farther corners of the globe.

Moderator:
William E. Kovacic, Commissioner, FTC

Panelists:
Scott Cooper, Vice President of Policy, American National Standards Institute
Michal S. Gal, Professor, Haifa University School of Law
Georges Korsun, Deloitte Financial Advisory Services, LLP
Andreas Reindl, Executive Director, Fordham Competition Law Institute, Fordham Law School
Daniel Sokol, Visiting Associate Professor of Law, University of Missouri School of Law
Mark Whitener, Senior Counsel, Competition Law and Policy, General Electric Company