By invitation of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), two regional seminars on trade and competition for Latin America and the Caribbean were held in April 2009 and May 2010, in Caracas and Brasilia, respectively. Both meetings were attended by officials in charge of trade and competition of the Member States of SELA, as well as officials from UNCTAD and other multilateral organizations such as the World Trade Organization (WTO).

As a result of the meeting held in Brasilia, the Member States of SELA recommended the Latin American Council to create the Latin American and Caribbean Working Group on Trade and Competition (WGTC). Through Decision N° 519, adopted at the XXXVI Regular Meeting of the Latin American Council of SELA in October 2010, the Council formally supported the establishment of the WGTC and requested the Permanent Secretariat “…to provide the necessary technical support for the organization, preparation and implementation of the activities identified by the Group.”

The First Meeting of the WGTC took place in Bogotá, Colombia, in July 2011, with the purpose of confirming and formalizing it as a unique regional forum of authorities specialized in trade and competition for cooperation, consultation and coordination at the regional level in that field, as well as of ensuring coherence between trade and competition policies of the region’s countries. At that First Meeting, the Regulations of the of the WGTC, in its Article V, stated that “…The Secretariat shall consist of the Technical Secretariat, to be held by UNCTAD through the COMPAL Programme, and the Executive Secretariat, to be held by the Secretariat of SELA.”

The Second Meeting was carried out in Lima, Peru, in June 2012. There, a discussion was conducted on clauses of the regional trade integration agreements on competition, public procurement and their relationship with competition, as well as the challenges posed by cross-border anti-competitive practices for Latin American and Caribbean countries.

The Third Meeting, held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in September 2013, was focused on trade and competition in the energy and hydrocarbons market, institutional capacity building, competition policy in the telecommunications sector, the benefits of competition policy in the supply of goods and services, the promotion of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), inter-institutional cooperation and recent legislative reforms in the area of trade and competition in Latin American and Caribbean countries.

The Fourth Meeting was conducted in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, in November 2014. The issues discussed were: disputes of Latin American and Caribbean countries at the WTO and the issues underlying competition policy, trade and competition in the food market, collusion and transparency in government procurement, air transport, communication media as strategic tools for promoting competition, competition policy and trade facilitation measures, as well as a space to discuss the future of the Working Group on Trade and Competition.