Competition Assessment

Recognizing that public restraints can unnecessarily hinder competition on the merits, the Advocacy Working Group prepared these recommended practices to provide guidance to competition agencies engaged in competition assessments. A competition assessment is an evaluation by the competition agency or another government body of the potential competitive effects of a proposed or existing policy. Through the assessment, competition agencies can urge policymakers to consider the policy’s likely impact on competition, identify whether justifications exist for any restrictions on competition, and assess whether less restrictive alternatives would achieve the intended public policy goal. In drafting the recommended practices, the Advocacy Working Group replied on the OECD’s extensive work on competition assessment, including the OECD Competition Assessment Toolkit.

The ICN Recommended Practices for Competition Assessment are available in English, French, Arabic, and Spanish.