Competition regulator

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A competition regulator is the institution that oversees the functioning of markets. It identifies and corrects practices causing market impediments and distortions through competition law (also known as antitrust law). [1] In general it is a government agency, typically a statutory authority, sometimes called an economic regulator, that regulates and enforces competition laws and may sometimes also enforce consumer protection laws. In addition to such agencies, there is often another body responsible for formulating competition policy.

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Many nations implement competition laws, and there is general agreement on acceptable standards of behaviour. The degree to which countries enforce their competition policy varies substantially.

Competition regulators may also regulate certain aspects of mergers and acquisitions and business alliances and regulate or prohibit cartels and monopolies. Other government agencies may have responsibilities in relation to aspects of competition law that affect companies (e.g., the registrar of companies).

Regulators may form supranational or international alliances like the ECN (European Competition Network), the ICN (International Competition Network), and the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development).

List of trade blocs and multinational regulators

Flag Trade bloc Regulating organizationECAICNOECDWebsiteLanguage
Flag of the Andean Community of Nations.svgCommunidad Andina (Andean Community of Nations)Symbol question.svgSymbol question.svg Spanish
Flag of Europe.svg European Union /European Economic Area European CommissionDirectorate-General for Competition Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png See: Official languages of the European Union
European Economic Area: Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein (EFTA members) EFTA Surveillance Authority Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png English

List of national regulators

FlagCountryNameECAICNOECDWebsiteLanguage
Flag of Albania.svg Albania Competition Authority (Albania) Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png English
Flag of Algeria.svg Algeria The Algerian National Competition Council Bullet-green.png Arabic, French
Flag of Argentina.svg Argentina Comision Nacional de Defensa de la Competencia Bullet-green.png Spanish
Flag of Armenia.svg Armenia State Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition of Armenia Bullet-green.png English
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia Australian Competition & Consumer Commission Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png English
Flag of Austria.svg Austria Wettbewerbsbehörde im BMwA Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png English
Flag of Barbados.svg Barbados Fair Trading Commission Bullet-green.png English
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium Raad voor de Mededinging/Conseil de la concurrence Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png French/Dutch
Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil Administrative Council for Economic Defense Bullet-green.png Portuguese
Flag of Bulgaria.svg Bulgaria Commission for Protection of Competition Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png Archived August 19, 2014, at the Wayback Machine Bulgarian/English
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada Competition Bureau/Bureau de la concurrence Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png , English/French
Flag of Chile.svg Chile Tribunal de Defensa de la Libre Competencia -National Economic Prosecutor's Office Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png Spanish
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg China State Administration for Market Regulation Chinese
Flag of Colombia.svg Colombia Superintendency of Industry and Commerce Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png Archived April 22, 2018, at the Wayback Machine Spanish
Flag of Croatia.svg Croatia Croatian Competition Agency Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png English
Flag of Curacao.svg Curaçao Fair Trade Authority Curaçao X [@] English, Dutch, Papiamentu
Flag of Cyprus.svg Cyprus Commission for the Protection of Competition Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png English
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Czech Republic Office for the Protection of Competition Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png English
Flag of Denmark.svg Denmark Konkurrencestyrelsen Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png English
Flag of El Salvador.svg El Salvador Superintendencia de Competencia Bullet-green.png Spanish
Flag of Estonia.svg Estonia Konkurentsiamet Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png
Flag of Finland.svg Finland Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (Kilpailuvirasto) Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png English
Flag of France.svg France Autorité de la concurrence Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png French
Flag of Georgia.svg Georgia Competition Agency Bullet-green.png Georgian, English, Russian
Flag of Germany.svg Germany Bundeskartellamt Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png German
Flag of Greece.svg Greece Hellenic Competition Commission Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png English
Flag of Hong Kong.svg Hong Kong Competition Commission Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png Cantonese/English
Flag of Hungary.svg Hungary Office of Economic Competition (Gazdasági Versenyhivatal) Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png English
Flag of India.svg India Competition Commission of India Bullet-green.png English
Flag of Indonesia.svg Indonesia Commission for Supervision of Business Competition, (Komisi Pengawas Persaingan Usaha), Bullet-green.png English
Flag of Ireland.svg Ireland Competition and Consumer Protection Commission Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png English
Flag of Iceland.svg Iceland Icelandic Competition Authority Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png English
Flag of Israel.svg Israel Israel Anti-trust Authority Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png English
Flag of Italy.svg Italy Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM) Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png English
Flag of Japan.svg Japan Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) Bullet-green.png English
Flag of Jersey.svg Jersey Jersey Competition Regulatory Authority, (JCRA), Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png English
Flag of Jordan.svg Jordan Competition Directorate at the Ministry of Industry and Trade Bullet-green.png English
Flag of Kazakhstan.svg Kazakhstan Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for regulation of natural monopolies and Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Competition Protection (Antimonopoly Agency) Bullet-green.png English
Flag of Kenya.svg Kenya Monopolies and Prices Commission of Kenya Bullet-green.png English
Flag of Kosovo.svg Kosovo Kosovo Competition Commission English, Albanian, Serbian
Flag of Latvia.svg Latvia Competition Council of Latvia Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png English
Flag of Liechtenstein.svg Liechtenstein Office of National Economy (Amt für Volkswirtschaft) Bullet-green.png German
Flag of Lithuania.svg Lithuania Competition Council Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png Archived January 18, 2006, at the Wayback Machine English
Flag of Luxembourg.svg Luxembourg Conseil de la concurrence - Inspection de la Concurrence Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png French
Flag of Malaysia.svg Malaysia Malaysia Competition Commission Bullet-green.png English
Flag of Malta.svg Malta Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png
Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico Mexican Federal Competition Commission Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png English
Flag of Moldova.svg Republic of Moldova Consiliul Concurenței (Competition Council) Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png English
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands Autoriteit Consument & Markt Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png English
Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand Ministry of Commerce: Competition and Enterprise Branch and New Zealand Commerce Commission Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png English
Flag of Nigeria.svg Nigeria Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission English
Flag of North Macedonia.svg North Macedonia Commission for Protection of Competition English
Flag of Norway.svg Norway Konkurransetilsynet Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png English
Flag of Pakistan.svg Pakistan Competition Commission of Pakistan Bullet-green.png Urdu
Flag of Peru.svg Peru Free Competition Commission Bullet-green.png Spanish
Flag of the Philippines.svg Philippines Philippine Competition Commission English
Flag of Poland.svg Poland Office for Competition and Consumer Protection Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png English
Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal Autoridade da Concorrência Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png English, Portuguese
Flag of Romania.svg Romania Consiliul Concurenței (Competition Council) Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png Archived October 25, 2008, at the Wayback Machine English
Flag of Russia.svg Russia Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia Bullet-green.png Archived February 10, 2020, at the Wayback Machine English
Flag of Singapore.svg Singapore Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png English
Flag of Slovakia.svg Slovakia Antimonopoly Office Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png English
Flag of Slovenia.svg Slovenia Slovenian Competition Protection Agency Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png English
Flag of South Africa.svg South Africa Competition Commission, South African Competition Tribunal Bullet-green.png English
Flag of South Korea.svg South Korea Fair Trade Commission Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png English
Flag of Spain.svg Spain Comisión Nacional de la Competencia (CNC) before September 2007 Tribunal de Defensa de la Competencia (TDC) Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png Spanish
Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden Konkurrensverket Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png English
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Switzerland The Competition Council and Competition Commission (COMCO) Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png German, French, Italian
Flag of the Republic of China.svg Taiwan Fair Trade Commission Bullet-green.png English
Flag of Thailand.svg Thailand Trade Competition Commission
Flag of Turkey.svg Turkey Rekabet Kurumu Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png English
Flag of Ukraine.svg Ukraine Anti-Monopoly Committee Bullet-green.png English
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom Competition and Markets Authority Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png English
Flag of the United States.svg United States Federal Trade Commission & United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division Bullet-green.png Bullet-green.png English
Flag of Venezuela.svg Venezuela Pro-Competencia Bullet-green.png Spanish

See also

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References

  1. "Competition Law Basics" (PDF). Competition Commission of India. p. 6.