SELA, UNCTAD AND GOVERNMENT OF ECUADOR ORGANIZED V MEETING ON TRADE AND COMPETITION

The Permanent Secretariat of Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA) and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) held on 2 and 3 December in Manta, Ecuador, the “V Annual Meeting Working Group on Trade and Competition of Latin America and the Caribbean (WGTC)”, organized jointly with the Superintendence of Market Power Control of Ecuador (SMPC), following up on meetings held in Bogotá (2011); Lima (2012); Buenos Aires (2013) and Punta Cana (2014).

The WGTC, whose mission is to promote cooperation, consultation and coordination on trade and competition in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, was established in 2010 by Decision No. 519, adopted at the XXXVI Regular Meeting of the Latin American Council SELA, as a result of regional seminars on trade and competition for Latin America and the Caribbean, organized by the Permanent Secretariat of SELA and UNCTAD in Caracas (2009) and Brasilia (2010).

On this occasion, for the first time within the GTCC, one of the central themes of the discussions and debates will be the regulation of competition in the framework of the integration agreements in Latin America and the Caribbean, both regional and sub regional levels. Likewise, the meeting will focus on competition and intellectual property in the field of medicines, non-tariff measures and their impact on competition and the impact of the informal sector in trade and competition.

This meeting will be attended by representatives from the areas of trade and competition of the Member States of SELA, regional bodies and sub regional integration in Latin America and the Caribbean, such as the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA), the Andean Community, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and the Secretariat of Central American Economic Integration (SIECA), as well as experts and special guests.