ONTARIO - The Canadian and Mexican governments have signed an agreement in which both countries will enforce competition laws. This deal will provide common guidelines for competition enforcement between each country.

"We now have competition agreements in place with both our NAFTA partners," said Konrad von Finckenstein, Commissioner of the Competition Bureau. "Our agreement with Mexico clearly shows that competition authorities from all three NAFTA countries want to ensure that anti-competitive business practices do not detract from the benefits of free trade."

This latest agreement which is similar to the 1995 Canada-U.S. deal, is part of an ongoing effort by the Competition Bureau to deal with cross-border anti-competitive activities. The increase in cross-border merges and international conspiracies over the last decade has led the Bureau to believe there is a need for antitrust agencies to better ensure competition laws.

The Bureau expects that the deal will promote cooperation and coordination between each country. Additionally, differences in applying competition laws in each country would be kept to a minimum. All of this should result in better prices and product choices for North American consumers.

"We have completed the process of establishing cooperative frameworks for competition law enforcement within the NAFTA region," says Von Finckenstein. "This announcement is good news for business and consumers."

The agreement will be enacted once it passes Senate approval in Mexico early next year.

The Competition Bureau is an independent law enforcement agency that oversees the Competition Act, the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act, the Textile Labelling Act and the Precious Metals Marking Act. You can find them on the Internet at http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/SSG/ct01250e.html.

 

If you enjoyed this article, be sure to visit CanadaOne's article knowledge base for more informative articles.