News
Global efforts to prevent anti-competitive conduct from occurring in the supply and distribution of goods will be boosted by a new working group announced today between the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), US Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation, Canadian Competition Bureau, NZ Commerce Commission, and UK Competition and Markets Authority.
The five competition authorities will focus on illegal conduct, including collusion, in global supply chains, in light of the pandemic-induced disruptions that have led to much higher freight rates and more expensive goods for consumers.
Freight rates on key global trade routes are currently about seven times higher than they were two years ago.
Types of anti-competitive conduct the working group will be watching for include cartels and any other activities that materially impact competition, such as exclusionary arrangements by firms with market power.
This new working group complements a number of existing formal and informal cooperation agreements with competition agencies in the US, UK, Canada and NZ, designed to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of competition investigations that span multiple jurisdictions.
