BACKGROUND
Through a joint convocation made by the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), regional seminars on trade and competition in Latin America and the Caribbean were conducted in April 2009 and May 2010 in Caracas and Brasilia, respectively. Both meetings were attended by authorities in charge of trade and competition of the Member States of SELA, as well as officials of UNCTAD and other multilateral organizations, such as the World Trade Organization (WTO).
As a result of the meeting held in Brazil, SELA Member States recommended the Latin American Council to create the Working Group on Trade and Competition of Latin America and the Caribbean (WGTC). Decision N° 519 of the XXXVI Regular Meeting of the Latin American Council of SELA, in October 2010, formally supported the creation of the WGTC, whose Secretariat was made up of the Permanent Secretariat of SELA and the General Secretariat of UNCTAD, as Executive Secretariat and Technical Secretariat, respectively.
The First Meeting of the WGTC was carried out in Bogota in July 2011, with the purpose of confirming and strengthening the Working Group as a unique regional forum of authorities in charge of trade and competition for cooperation, consultation and coordination in that field at the regional level.
The II Meeting was held in Lima, Peru, in June 2012, with the discussion of the terms of competition contained in regional agreements on trade integration, government procurement and its relationship with competition, as well as the challenges posed by cross-border anti-competitive practices for the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.
The III Meeting, held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in September 2013, focused on trade and competition in the energy and hydrocarbons market, institutional capacity-building, competition policy in the sector of telecommunications, the benefits from the competition policy in the provision 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 the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.
The IV Meeting took place in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, in November 2014. The issues discussed were as follows: Litigations of Latin American and Caribbean countries in the WTO and the underlying issues regarding competition policy, trade and competition in the foodstuff market, collusion and transparency in government procurement, air transport and communication means as strategic tools for the promotion of competition, competition policy and trade facilitation measures, as well as a space devoted to the discussion on the future of the WGTC.
The V Annual Meeting of the Working Group was held from 2 to 4 December 2015 in the city of Manta, Ecuador. And for the first time, the meeting discussed how to deal with the interaction between trade and competition policies in the context of Latin American and Caribbean integration, with the participation of representatives of regional and subregional integration mechanisms.
The VI Annual Meeting of the WGTC was conducted from 2 to 4 November 2017 on the island of Roatán, Honduras. It discussed the harmonization of regulatory frameworks in the area of trade and competition within the subregional integration mechanisms in Latin America and the Caribbean, and the treatment of dumping pursuant to trade and competition laws.
The VII Annual Meeting of the Working Group took place in San Salvador, El Salvador. It dealt with issues related to the digital economy, and how to cope with non-tariff barriers and their impact on competition in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.
The VIII Annual Meeting of the Working Group was held in Brasilia, Brazil, in October 2018, with the purpose of analyzing the importance and impact of maritime transport, infrastructure and port services on trade and competition in Latin America and the Caribbean.
