Time

08:30 – 09:00

Registration

09:00 – 09:30

OPENING SESSION 

• Pedro Páez, Superintendent for Control of Market Power of Ecuador.

• Telasco Pulgar, Director (a.i.) of Relations for Integration and Cooperation of the Permanent Secretariat of SELA.

• Juan Luis Crucelegui, Head of Competition Policies and Consumer Protection, UNCTAD.

• Pascal Décosterd , Ambassador of the Swiss Confederation in the Republic of Ecuador.

9:30 – 11:15

SESSION I: REGULATION OF COMPETITION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF REGIONAL AND SUBREGIONAL INTEGRATION AGREEMENTS IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN 

Latin America and the Caribbean have a dense network of economic integration agreements, in which the regulation of competition plays a direct or indirect role. This session will bring together the secretariats of several regional integration agreements. Some of the issues to be discussed are:

• Which is the best way to ensure the benefits of competition in regional integration agreements?

• How has competition helped regional integration?

• What experiences have been the most successful ones?

• Which areas require attention?

Moderator: Telasco Pulgar, Director (a.i.) of Relations for Integration and Cooperation of the Permanent Secretariat of SELA  

• Eduardo Piña,   Analyst of the Direction of Studies and Proposals of the Permanent Secretariat of SELA.
• Mauricio Ruano, Advisor on Competitiveness, Secretariat for Central American Economic Integration (SIECA).
• Juan Carlos Roa, Andean Community (CAN).
• Kusha Haraksingh, Chairman, CARICOM Competition Commission.

11:15 – 11:30

Coffee break

11:30 – 12:00

Interactive debate

12:00 – 13:30

Free time for lunch

13:30 – 15:00

SESSION II: NEW PARADIGMS IN THE REGULATION ON COMPETITION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE REGIONAL AND SUBREGIONAL INTEGRATION AGREEMENTS IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN 

In line with the debates of Session I, this Session will discuss the future of the regulations on competition from the standpoint of regional integration, addressing the following issues: 

• What are the new trends in competition that contribute to regional integration?

• What factors of competition regulation should be considered in the future of regional integration?

• What conditions are required so that the benefits of competition can reach the population in general?

• How can the impact of competition on regional integration policies be measured?

• What is the role of transnational corporations in regional integration and what is their impact on competition?

Moderator: Telasco Pulgar, Director (a.i.) of Relations for Integration and Cooperation of the Permanent Secretariat of SELA. 

• José Andrade, Superintendency for Control of Market Power of Ecuador.
• Luis Espinosa, Chief Negotiator of the United Nations Working Group on Transnational Corporations and Human Rights.
• Evelyn Olmedo, Superintendency for Competition of El Salvador.

15:00 – 15:30

Interactive debate

15:30 - 15:45

Coffee break

15:45 – 17:30

SESSION III: COMPETITION AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN THE AREA OF MEDICINES 

Competition policy aims to achieve that markets benefit consumers through their basic elements: the promotion and implementation of regulations. However, in order to improve access to products, the measures to fight those practices that are contrary to free competition in the sector of medicines may be less appropriate than other type of measures. Competition policy is a mechanism still relatively little developed but promising; for this reason, greater importance should be given to its potential to complement initiatives in this matter. This session will address some of the main problems related to competition currently existing in the sector of medicines, with examples from various jurisdictions as regards the benefits of the application of competition rules for consumers, and some recommendations of measures to improve access to medicines in Latin America and the Caribbean. 

Moderator: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

• Eduardo Esparza, Superintendency for Control of Market Power of Ecuador.
• Matías Edwards Zamora, National Economic Prosecutor’s Office of Chile.
• Héctor Palacios, National Institute for the Defense of Competition and the Protection of Intellectual Property (INDECOPI) of Peru.
• Pierre Arhel, Intellectual Property Division, World Trade Organization (WTO).

17:30 – 18:00

Interactive debate

09:00 – 10:30

SESSION IV: NON-TARIFF MEASURES AND THEIR IMPACT ON COMPETITION 

With the fall of tariffs, non-tariff measures have become the determining factor for regulation of international trade, having an important impact on integration in the global and regional networks of economic production. This session will address the impact of those measures on competition, particularly the sanitary and phytosanitary measures and the technical barriers to trade which regulate both trade and domestic production, on the one hand; and on the other hand, the protectionist measures in trade and industrial policy, as well as the measures on customs, valuation, facilitation and inspection, trade defence measures, and non-automatic licensing and quantitative restrictions, among others. 

Moderator: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)  

• Errol Solís, Ministry of Economy, Industry and Commerce (MEIC) of Costa Rica.
• Christian Knebel, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
• Gloria Cañas, Director of the Information and Knowledge Network of the Permanent Secretariat of SELA.

10:30 – 11:00

Interactive debate

11:00 – 11:15

Coffee break

11:15 – 12:45

SESSION V: IMPACT OF THE INFORMAL SECTOR ON TRADE AND COMPETITION 

The informal sector is a reality in the economies of the region, which poses a challenge in maximizing the impact of public policies on trade and competition. How could the informal sector be integrated into the usual control of the authorities? What should be kept in mind when it comes to regulating trade and competition in relation to the informal trade? And particularly, how does family agriculture in Latin America affect or should affect the design of public policies on trade and competition? 

Moderator: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

• Daniel Jaramillo/ Vicente Abril, Superintendency for Control of Market Power of Ecuador.
• Carlos Alberto Filartiga, National Competition Commission (CONACOM) of Paraguay.
• David Miller, Director Ejecutivo, Jamaica Fair Trading Commission.

12:45 – 13:00

Interactive debate

13:00 – 14:30

Free time for lunch

14:30 – 16:00

SESSION VI: THE FUTURE OF THE WORKING GROUP ON TRADE AND COMPETITION: WORK PROGRAMME AND FUTURE PARTNERS 

In the IV Annual Meeting of the Working Group of Trade and Competition, the Member States showed unanimous interest in continuing with the work of the group. In this session, various options will be presented for consideration by the Member States, such as joint studies, ad hoc groups and search for new partners. 

Moderator: Christian Ruiz, General Intendent at the Superintendency for Control of Market Power of Ecuador 

• Eduardo Piña, Analyst of the Direction of Studies and Proposals of the Permanent Secretariat of SELA.
• Juan Luis Crucelegui, Head of Competition Policies and Consumer Protection, UNCTAD.
• Mario Umaña, Chief Specialist in Trade and Competition, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

16:00 - 16:15

Coffee break

16:15 – 16:45

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

16:45 – 17:00

CLOSING SESSION

• Telasco Pulgar, Director (a.i.) of Relations for Integration and Cooperation of the Permanent Secretariat of SELA.
• Juan Luis Crucelegui, Head of Competition Policies and Consumer Protection, UNCTAD.
• Pedro Páez, Superintendent for Control of Market Power of Ecuador.